Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

Don’t underestimate the power of a…Meru Cab. India’s only profit making taxi services company has recently raised around $25 million from Brand Capital, the investment arm of Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd (BCCL), the same group that publishes the Times of India newspaper. 
 
As per the official statement, the money will be used to strengthen the company’s foothold in the country’s domestic taxi-hailing market, increase brand awareness via advertising and promotions, and widen its customer segment. 
 “With the ongoing transformation in the taxi industry, this move is in line with the company's efforts to showcase its services to a larger customer segment via a bouquet of media channels,” said Siddhartha Pahwa, CEO, <keyword id="108722" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Meru-Cabs">Meru Cabs</keyword>. 
 
Since May 2015, when Meru last raised $50 million from its existing investor India Value Fund Advisors (IVFA), it has expanded its taxi service to 24 new cities, launched four new products and expanded its fleet size to over 20,000 vehicles. 
 
Meru entered the highly-competitive online taxi-hailing market back in 2007 when the Maharashtra government invited tenders for GPS-linked electronically metered cab for 10,000 cabs in 2006. 
 
Headquartered in Mumbai, Meru Cabs was launched with a mere 45 taxis back in 2007. It expanded operations to three cities in 2008, namelyDelhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, and followed it up with two more - Jaipur and Ahmedabad in 2013 and Chennai in 2015. 
 
India’s organized taxi-hailing market currently stands at over $1.2 billion, and is expected to touch $15 billion by 2022. This enormous opportunity at hand has led to a bitter price war between the likes of Uber and Ola. 
 
<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/photo/46617743.cms">Image Source</a> 
 
(Disclaimer: Business Insider India is a part of Times Internet Limited, the online arm of Bennett, Coleman and Co. Ltd)

Meru Cabs raises $25 million from Times Group, looking to expand further

<keyword id="205081" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Meru">Meru</keyword>, the taxi services provider based in Mumbai, aims to be a $1 bn firm in the next six years. The company wants to expand in new cities and launch new services so that it can tap the potential of its existing markets. 
 
The company returned to profit in the December quarter after a huge gap of almost six quarters, and now aims to have a network of one lakh cars by 2022. By then, it will buy around 10,000 more vehicles. 
 
"We want to be a $ one billion organisation by 2022. We are having an year-on-year growth of 35 per cent. Last year, we grew at around 40 per cent," Meru Group CEO Siddhartha Pahwa told PTI. 
 
Meru currently operates taxi services in 23 cities, and has revenue of $ 120 million (Rs 730 crore) with a consumer base of 10 million. 
 
In the expansion plans, the company plans to expand to 45 cities by adding more tier-II cities like Patna, Bareilly, Bhopal, which have good potential by the end of next year. 
 
Out of a fleet of 20,000 cars, Meru owns 6,000 while rest are on aggregator business model. 
 
"We would continue to add 1,500- 2,000 cars every year in our own business, in which 1,000 would be for replacement of the old vehicles and rest would be addition. But on aggregator side, we are seeing 20-30 per cent growth every year," he said. 
 
"Some cities are making healthy profit at PBT level which we are ploughing back in some other cities but at gross profit level, each and every city is now making profit, which is a healthy sign," Pahwa said. 
 
"In these cities, we would continue to invest little bit more because for any city to grow, you need to make investment in terms of price offs, marketing, getting more drivers in the system. It would continue to be there," he said. 
 
Recently, Meru has launched two new services, including carpool and ride share, both of which are doing well. 
 
<a href="https://www.merucabs.com/images/meru_img6.jpg">Image source</a>

Taxi services provider Meru aims to be $1 billion firm by 2022

Uber has managed to overtake Indian rivals like <keyword id="108722" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Meru-Cabs">Meru Cabs</keyword> and Carzonrent, which operates <keyword id="610614" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Easy-Cabs">Easy Cabs</keyword>. 
 
According to a filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Uber’s revenues in India grew over fivefold to Rs 374 crore in 2015-16, while Meru posted revenues of Rs 323 crore during the same period. Easy Cabs, on the other hand, clocked sales of Rs 216 crore. Uber's biggest Indian rival Ola is yet to declare its numbers. 
 
Just a year ago, both these rivals were four times bigger than Uber in India. In 2014-15, Meru had revenues of Rs 289 crore while Easy Cabs posted sales of Rs 263 crore.Uber's sales, in comparison, stood at Rs 69 crore. 
 Uber has already committed $1 billion and the firm's cofounder <keyword id="1739133" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Travis-Kalanick">Travis Kalanick</keyword>, in a January visit to India, had said the company would double its pledged investment if it sees more than five times the return. After Uber sold off its China operations to Didi Chuxing earlier this year, it has further accelerated its ef forts in India, which is now its second-largest market after US. 
 "We had sold that division for Rs 200 crore and there was a significant revenue from the business that doesn't come into our portfolio," <keyword id="325678" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rajiv-K-Vij">Rajiv K Vij</keyword>, CEO, Carzonrent, told ET. 
 
Vij claimed the company's car rental business grew on an average of 21-22% and it had a profit margin of around 30%. "We are not buying business like some others; we are doing a sustainable business and our operations are continuously growing, it is profitable. That's the difference between our business and theirs," he said. 
 <keyword id="3820291" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nilesh-Sangoi">Nilesh Sangoi</keyword>, the newly appointed chief executive of Meru Cabs, said the company's revenue have grown by 14% in the previous year and they are EBITDA positive. 
 
"Right now the industry is talking about Rs 3,500-4,000 crore losses individually for some taxi players. It kind of creates a different market where they can buy the market share through capital. But, we are not in that game," he told ET.

Uber has zoom past Meru, Easy Cabs

With <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword> and <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> emerging as the leaders of the growing <keyword id="3140795" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="online-taxi-services">online taxi services</keyword> space in India, it seems <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Meru-Cabs-is-actually-better-off-after-Ola-and-Uber-began/articleshow/48759979.cms">Meru</a> who pioneered the industry is losing at its own game. From tying up with global companies, innovating new features on their apps to complying aggressively with government regulations, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Ola-changes-tact-to-beat-Uber-at-its-game-Plans-to-invest-Rs-5000-crore-/articleshow/48970068.cms">Ola</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Uber-Believed-To-Be-Keen-On-Acquiring-Meru-Cabs/articleshow/46108451.cms">Uber</a> are invading the industry with cheaper travel alternatives as their main motto.
 

	In all this aggression, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Meru-becomes-the-first-Indian-radio-taxi-player-to-enter-strategic-international-alliance/articleshow/49470450.cms">Meru seems to have lost out at the main idea of conception</a>. Other than going slow on innovation, its rates are much higher too. But hold it right there! The fixed rates are the best strategy that the company is betting on right now and they believe this is what is going to make them grow at a much faster rate than the others. How?
 Well, hear it from one of the most defined and aggressive CEOs of the space, <keyword id="1448760" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Siddhartha-Pahwa">Siddhartha Pahwa</keyword>, CEO of <keyword id="108722" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Meru-Cabs">Meru Cabs</keyword>. 
	
		Can you give an overview of the present online taxi services space in India?
	 
	
		We analysed this industry 2007 and believed that the potential is pretty huge. We knew that a good quality transportation services is what the consumers require. The penetration of personal cars in India is very low, as low as about 5-6 %. While globally 40-50 % of the people own the personal cars. The reason is in India the cost of owning a car is significantly higher in India in terms of purchase parity. Therefore we provided taxis as a good travel solution to people. 
	 
	
		Even after eight years, the industry is growing at a pace of roughly 25 per cent. We see an organised growth at 50 percent in the next 3-5 years.
	 
	
		What are your future plans?
	 
	
		Carpooling would become very big in India. By carpooling we mean that pooling of taxi rides as well as people pooling their personal vehicles. This is the future in the next 3-5 years.
	 
	
		There are many start-ups coming up who provide carpooling services. How is that affecting your business?
	 
	
		At this point of time the industry is not looking for a loss or gain. The category is still developing and it is known to develop by people coming from unorganised sector to organised sector. Newer players coming into the market will only open up the market in a larger scale. Like any other industry, we would go through a mushrooming phase and there would be a consolidation phase of 3-5 years.
	 
	
		You rates are much higher than Ola and Uber. How do you plan to compete with them?
	 People are ready to pray the price for our product. That’s why we are seeing 35 per cent stagger in our business. We give a robust, advanced product to our consumer where a consumer can book for a taxi even 10 days in advance at fixed rates. Secondly, we have the product at the airport too. Third is our fixed pricing. So people do not see us overcharging during peak demand, like the <keyword id="3140794" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="search-pricing">search pricing</keyword> done by others. 
	
		But don’t you think if you bring down the price, there would be more growth of your company?
	 
	
		If the quality is not there, people will not use it after a point of time. 
	 
	
		What is the future of the industry?
	 
	
		Partners would develop and they would start partnerships with technological companies. We would be able to provide good technology partnerships to these players.
	 
	
		How are the current government regulations affecting the industry and what should be done?
	 
	
		Both the central and the state government believe that it is an important industry and that is why the laws have been amended at such a fast pace. There are three things that the government is very clear about and they believe these will help the industry to grow in a better and balanced manner.
	 
	
		1. They say that more individuals and micro-entrepreneurs should partner in the industry to develop this category and therefore they have opened up the industry by saying that anybody who has a car can get a taxi license and join any of the operators.
	 
	
		2. We want good safety to be deployed by the aggregator or the operator. Who is the driver, driving patterns of the driver etc must be checked by the company. That makes the company responsible for any mishaps or misconduct by the driver.
	 
	
		3. The third thing they are saying is that they want to move away from a fixed fare structure. However we will not allow a free market economy completely because we have seen in the past that consumers have been forced to pay 5x, even 10x the fares. We will give a price range and within that the dynamics of the industry has to be governed. 
	 
	
		How do you ensure the safety of the consumers?
	 
	
		We have three robust processes at place. The drivers go through four days of training, teaching them how to deal with passengers, people with special needs. There is a psychologist sitting in the panel. The customer can register a number of a known person on our app and we share details of the trip with him/her every time the customer takes a ride. There is also a ‘In case of emergency’ button in the app. If you touch the button and within 10 seconds an alarm goes in our call centres whereby we get in touch with the cab driver and passenger. The alarm also goes in the emergency number that is saved by the passenger.
	 
	
		What are your IPO plans?
	 
	
		At this point of time IPO might not be the right financial solution for the company because once you get listed the amount of pressure that is on you to disclose your company’s numbers and profitability is huge. The industry does not need this right now. This industry will need at least $1.5-$2 bn more investment to change the behaviour of the consumer markedly.
	 
	
		What is your estimated revenue growth?
	 
	
		We expect $110 m revenue at the end of this financial year.
	 

(Image credits: Indiatimes)

EXCLUSIVE: Meru CEO isn’t afraid of competition from Uber and Ola. He thinks there is enough place to co-exist

<keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword> received a lot of flak in India not too long ago. But the company could be looking to operate in the region through other ways. A new report from The Economic Times suggests that Uber is looking to acquire India based <keyword id="108722" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Meru-Cabs">Meru Cabs</keyword> service for an undisclosed amount. 
 
This move would help Uber build some marketshare in the region as Meru Cabs is a popular name in India. The report further suggests that Meru is looking for somewhere close to $400 million for the acquisition. This should be chump change for a company like Uber which had a recent valuation of $40 billion. 
 India Value Fund Advisors (<keyword id="1455666" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="IVFA">IVFA</keyword>) hold an 80% stake in Meru and it is said that they will look to hold a minority stake in the company even after the acquisition. The exact terms of the acquisition are not known yet, but it seems like the decision could be finalized very soon. 
 
The move makes sense considering that rival cab service Ola was believed to be planning the purchase of Taxi For Sure last week. So it is understandable why Uber would want to step in and join forces with Meru. 
 IVFA was said to be contemplating an IPO or <keyword id="35216" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="initial-public-offering">Initial Public Offering</keyword> for Meru Cabs in a bid to increase revenues. So it seems to be a win-win situation for both Meru and Uber if this acquisition does in fact goes through. 
 
Both Meru and Uber have denied to comment on these reports, so we'll have to wait for more information to pop up. [<a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/emerging-businesses/entrepreneurship/us-based-uber-in-talks-to-buy-meru-cabs/articleshow/46097673.cms">The Economic Times</a>]

Uber Believed To Be Keen On Acquiring Meru Cabs

The Indian taxi provider, <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> cab’s fundraising activity is being noticed by foreign investors China, Scotland as well as United States. 
 Chinese leading cab aggregator, <keyword id="2857463" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Didi-Kuaidi">Didi Kuaidi</keyword> will be putting in around $30 million. Not just this but Ola might have US hedge fund <keyword id="4675629" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Meru-Capital">Meru Capital</keyword> and Scottish investment firm <keyword id="3069934" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Baille-Gifford">Baille Gifford</keyword> as its new investors, as per The Economic Times. 
 If sources are to be believed, Ola is in advanced talks to close fundraising of about $500 million (Rs 3,000 crore) at a valuation above $5 billion. In its new round of <keyword id="6357455" type="EVENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Funding">funding</keyword>, Falcon Edge and GIC Singapore could emerge as the biggest investors. 
 
Ola is also in talks with New York-based Meru Capital and Scottish investment firm Baille Gifford for funding. 
 
Official sources, requesting anonymity said, "The investors in the round are still being finalised and it is getting oversubscribed, so it may be expanded a bit." 
 
The company’s CEO bhavish Aggarwal, however, didn’t respond to an email query sent to him but he said that the “company is not looking to raise more funding as it does not want to dilute more than 10%." 
 
For the funding round, the company initially estimated a valuation of $4.5 billion before the investment but is now expected to increase it to around $5 billion, depending on the final amount it raises. 
 Japan’s <keyword id="163404" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Softbank">SoftBank</keyword>, also an investor in Didi Kuaidi, in October 2014 valued Ola at around $650 million. 
 Official sources, on condition of anonymity, said that Ola is raising funds in two separate activities with the first raising Rs 1,478 crore included investors like <keyword id="4675626" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Falcon-Edge-Capital">Falcon Edge Capital</keyword>, which put in Rs 515 crore, and Tiger Global, which invested Rs 397 crore and SoftBank put in Rs 384 crore. 
 
The existing investors DST Global and GIC, which didn’t participated in the first round, might join in the second round. 
 The new investors for the first round included Parkwood Bespin and <keyword id="3069933" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="JS-Capital">JS Capital</keyword>, besides Facebook Asia vice president <keyword id="368765" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dan-Neary">Dan Neary</keyword>. 
 
The investment from Didi Kuaidi, which recently raised $3 billion in one of the largest funding rounds globally, is significant as the Chinese firm has picked up stakes also in Singapore's Grabtaxi and Lyft, both Uber competitors in their respective markets. 
 Ola is expected to cross annual gross revenue run rate of $1 billion by the end of the year, boosted in part by its $200-million acquisition of rival <keyword id="1428790" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="TaxiforSure">TaxiForSure</keyword>, whose revenue has doubled since the deal closed in March. Ola has raised about $700 million overall.

Ola Cabs’ new round of fund raising to value it above $5 billion

BANGALORE: The fight to win over the Indian taxi passenger has intensified with aggregator Olacabs and cab hailing app Uber slashing prices by a fourth in Delhi—a development that is likely to force rivals to follow suit. 
 
While Ola has cut rates in its lowerend car business—Ola mini—to Rs 10 /km, Uber has cut prices for its premium segment Uber BLACK. Separately, the San Francisco-based taxi hailing app also announced that it will be launching its affordable ride service UberX in three more Indian cities: Mumbai, Chennai and Pune. “We are pushing our efficiency system to the maximum,” said Shailesh Sawlani, general manager of Uber in Mumbai. "We see this as a daily commute option for our riders and plan to maintain these prices if customers ride with us as much as we anticipate." 
 UberX Mumbai fares are Rs 15/km with a minimum base fare of Rs 50 and total minimum fare of Rs 125. The latest moves come after Uber cut its prices in Bangalore by 25% last month. Ola also reduced fares to Rs10/km for its <keyword id="2210965" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Ola-Mini">Ola Mini</keyword> service in the Garden City. “We have been able to optimise our inventory,” said Pranay Jivrajka, vice president of operations at Olacabs. 
 
According to industry estimates, taxi companies are struggling to keep pace with the rising demand and on average cannot accommodate a fifth of the bookings. To address this problem Ola said it will increase the number of cabs available on its mobile app by about 35% to 3,200 in Delhi alone. Ola’s total fleet size is about 15,000. 
 
“These price cuts are just a starting point to acquire customers and establishing the brand image till the time you hit a critical mass,” said Arvind Singhal, chairman of Technopak. “At Rs 10/km Ola is making losses on each Ola Mini ride,” said a source directly familiar with the matter. Same is the case with Uber, according to another source. Uber’s price drop in Bangalore is, however, for a limited duration. 
 The company has not specified the timeframe. Other competitors like TaxiFor-Sure are focussing on discount codes to expand the customer base instead of cutting prices. “We keep doing event-related promotions and offer discount vouchers from time to time,” said Aprameya Radhakrishna, founder and chief executive of <keyword id="1428790" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="TaxiforSure">TaxiForSure</keyword>. 
 
“Till the time, taxi aggregators will not face pressure to turn profitable, the freebies will continue,” said Jaspal Singh, cofounder of Valoriser Consultants, which provides market research services for transportation companies. “These companies are looking to build valuation by expanding geographic reach, recruiting more number of drivers and attracting bookings to increase revenue.” 
 However other aggregators like <keyword id="108722" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Meru-Cabs">Meru Cabs</keyword> and Savaari cabs feel that price cuts is not sustainable long-term. “Meru does not believe in price wars,” said Siddhartha Pahwa, CEO of MERU Cabs. “Consumers will not take a cab because it’s cheap but for its reliability, safety and professional service.”

Win For Customers as Taxi Companies Like Olacabs, Uber Cut Fares In Delhi, Others May Follow

A report has pointed out that the payment volume through e-wallets is going to increase by 100% year-on-year over the next few years and it will be a new headache for banks after bad loans, reported the Economic Times. 
 

	According to the report, 'India Payments 2015' by broking firm Motilal Oswal: "e-wallets may become a key driver for digitisation of flows that traditionally were dominated by cash such as payment to taxi drivers, domestic help, and local merchants." 
 

	Do you know how many mobile wallets are there in India? Check out these numbers. In 1981, the first credit cards were launched and later, debit cards were issued. Till date Indian banks have issued 57.4 crore debit and credit cards. That is 1.6 crore cards on an average a year. The number of mobile wallets in the country is 11.5 crore, since their launch in 2007. That comes to an average of 1.4 crore a year.
 "The growth in this space is so dramatic that everybody, banks included, are going to participate in it (e-wallets),'' Jairam Sridharan, president and head, retail lending and payments at <keyword id="6355975" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Axis-Bank">Axis Bank</keyword> told ET, adding banks can't ignore this space. 

	"We don't know whether this is a passing phase or whether it will continue. The jury is still out on whether this is going to part of the payments infrastructure in the long run," he said. 
 

	Who made high street bankers wake up to the needs of the common man, who for decades was ignored for being an 'unviable' business? The refrain was, it is not profitable to service retail customers who don't provide opportunities to milk them in the name of cross-selling financial services. 
 It is <keyword id="2041058" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="CitrusPay">CitrusPay</keyword>, Oxigen, <keyword id="6357120" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="PayTM">Paytm</keyword>, which had nothing much to show in terms of pedigree, except that they had the commitment to innovate. And that is forcing banks to keep launching a feature a day on phones, or for tablets. Moreover, <keyword id="6653" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="ICICI-bank">ICICI Bank</keyword> on Tuesday said it has re-launched an 'all-new mobile banking app', which provides 100 kinds of services, the highest by any bank in India. Do bank customers really need 100 services? <keyword id="6357149" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="HDFC-bank">HDFC Bank</keyword> with its launch of <keyword id="4919152" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Payzapp">PayZapp</keyword> is almost replicating a Flipkart, or Paytm. 

	State Bank of India is also in the race with its digital baby SBI Rewardz. Axis Bank is not far behind with its Pingpay, promoted by actress Deepika Padukone. Kotak Bank is experimenting with taking its social media banking towards social commerce. It offers a hefty discount to customers who buy Amish Tripathi's book through a tweet from their mobiles. 
 <keyword id="417932" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Indian-Banking">Indian banking</keyword> are challenged not only in terms of loan recovery, but also with how to generate future business. With loans growth at a decade low, there is little choice for banks other than chasing the retail customer, and lay the foundation to acquire more when the economic expansion gathers pace. 

	The boom in digital wallet transactions has been triggered by the rise in mobile commerce, emergence of cheaper internet access and increasing mobile penetration. 
 Mobile wallets also gained the upper hand after the RBI cracked down on ecommerce sites that violated the second-factor authentication requirement. Paytm and CitrusPay have stepped in to provide seamless payments to providers such as <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword> and <keyword id="108722" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Meru-Cabs">Meru Cabs</keyword>. The big driver for e-wallets is that a large number of customers are unwilling to log in to their bank accounts to pay taxi fares or shop online fearing electronic fraud. 

	In fact, there are doubts whether banks are doing the right thing, or blindly aping the nimbler ones that are not even competing with them. 
 

	"Banks launching e-wallets is a really bad idea because technically when banks already had my account it already has a wallet,'' says Amrish Rau, MD and CEO of Citrus Payment, which has applied for a payments bank licence. 
 

	"They are trying to circumvent the second factor authentication by putting up a wallet. If you think of it calmly what does a wallet do? A wallet holds money, as do bank accounts. But they are enamoured by the world of wallets." 
 

	Still, banks cannot afford to be complacent. In advanced markets, technological developments are reshaping the way banking is done. 
 

	"If RBI actually looks at payments banks from the digital standpoint, we think we have a chance to compete with banks because they are coming to compete in our favourite spot of innovation and consumerled payments," says Citrus' Rau. 
 

	But Paytm, which is best positioned to topple banks from their ivory towers with its cash hoard after getting valued at nearly 23,600 crore with the latest round of investment, is downplaying its own impact on the financial landscape in India, though its top investor Alibaba shook the Chinese market. 
 

	"Paytm is a platform for transaction and banking is platform for savings,'' Amit Lakhotia, vice-president, Payments at Paytm, told the financial daily. 
 The Indian banking system was ignoring the bottom of the pyramid that for want of 'profitability.' It was this neglect that led to more than half the population live without a bank account till Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> forced banks to do so with his Jan Dhan Yojana. 

	The population may not be as wealthy as those in cities, which give a disproportionate income for services. But the sheer size of the unbanked, if costs are kept low and transactions made easy, could make banking profitable. It may be a long thin tail, but a small change could boost revenue and profits. 
 

	The final game is to convert the customer into a full-fledged bank customer, otherwise the revenue model will not be clear, said Jairam Sridharan. 

	 
	(Image: Indiatimes)

E-wallets will actually be a burden for the banks, not a boon

With the increasing competition between the cab service providers in the country, it has become extremely important for them to continue raising cash to stay ahead of their rivals. And perhaps this is what <keyword id="205081" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Meru">Meru</keyword> Cabs realised. The Mumbai-headquartered taxi service is in advanced talks with hedge funds <keyword id="2200131" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Valiant-Capital-Partners">Valiant Capital Partners</keyword> and <keyword id="4675626" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Falcon-Edge-Capital">Falcon Edge Capital</keyword> to raise Rs 627 crore ($100 million), as The Economic Times report. 
 The amount raised by Meru will help the India's oldest radio taxi operator to maintain a stronghold in the fight with it’s competitors like Tiger Global-backed <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> and San Francisco-based <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword>. 
 
Earlier this week, Meru raised $50 million (Rs 300 crore) from existing investor India Value Fund Advisors (IVFA) in order to finance its expansion plan to operate in 40 cities. 
 
Meru CEO Siddhartha Pahwa said, "We are talking to a new set of investors including Hong Kong and US-based hedge funds to raise $100 million at a valuation of $350 million," said Meru CEO Siddhartha Pahwa. 
 
Besides, Meru, which began operations in 2007, is also associating with regional radio taxi operators on a revenue-share basis to expand its fleet at a faster pace. Currently, it has a fleet of more than 50,000 taxis. 
(Image: Meru)

You Searched For "Meru Cabs revenue" and got 9 results

Meru Cabs raises $25 million from Times Group, looking to expand further

BI India Bureau

Taxi services provider Meru aims to be $1 billion firm by 2022

BI India Bureau

Uber has zoom past Meru, Easy Cabs

BI India Bureau

EXCLUSIVE: Meru CEO isn’t afraid of competition from Uber and Ola. He thinks there is enough place to co-exist

Usha Rani Das

Uber Believed To Be Keen On Acquiring Meru Cabs

Chethan Rao

Ola Cabs’ new round of fund raising to value it above $5 billion

BI India Bureau

Win For Customers as Taxi Companies Like Olacabs, Uber Cut Fares In Delhi, Others May Follow

Economic Times

E-wallets will actually be a burden for the banks, not a boon

BI India Bureau

This is how Meru Cabs plans to give Ola and Uber a run for their money

BI India Bureau

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides

You Searched For "Meru Cabs revenue" and got 9 results

Meru Cabs raises $25 million from Times Group, looking to expand further

BI India Bureau

Taxi services provider Meru aims to be $1 billion firm by 2022

BI India Bureau

Uber has zoom past Meru, Easy Cabs

BI India Bureau

EXCLUSIVE: Meru CEO isn’t afraid of competition from Uber and Ola. He thinks there is enough place to co-exist

Usha Rani Das

Uber Believed To Be Keen On Acquiring Meru Cabs

Chethan Rao

Ola Cabs’ new round of fund raising to value it above $5 billion

BI India Bureau

Win For Customers as Taxi Companies Like Olacabs, Uber Cut Fares In Delhi, Others May Follow

Economic Times

E-wallets will actually be a burden for the banks, not a boon

BI India Bureau

​This is how Meru Cabs plans to give Ola and Uber a run for their money

BI India Bureau

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides

This is how Meru Cabs plans to give Ola and Uber a run for their money