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<ul><li>OYO Home and Hotels is partnering with Drivezy, an Indian vehicle sharing start up.</li><li>Travellers will now be able to pick up bikes and cars directly from <keyword id="4964826" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO-hotels">OYO hotels</keyword>.</li><li>Drivezy plans to station 100,000 bikes and cars at OYO outlets.</li></ul> OYO Home and Hotels is partnering with Drivezy to station 100,000 bikes and cars at their hotels in the next three years. The partnership will kick off with 1,200 bikes OYO outlets in Bangalore and Hyderabad. Travellers can book bikes either by the hour, or on a daily basis. Drivezy, an Indian start up, was founded back in 2015. It offers cars, motorbikes and scooters on rent across 11 cities in India across 100 locations. Currently, it manages 4,000 cars and 14,000 bikes. The company claims to be the fastest growing vehicle sharing platform, and the largest two-wheeler sharing service in the country. Drivezy has plans to grow even further. The company signed an agreed with Harbourfront Capital for $100 million to bring more assets on-board. So far this year, it added 12,000 vehicles to its fleet. Leave it where you want Drivezy is currently working on a feature that will allow travellers to pick up and leave their vehicles anywhere they want — as long as they're within the city limits. This 'free floating' model comes with a significant catch. Drivezy needs to find a way to ensure its vehicles aren't vandalised or damaged, after being dropped off. "To counter this, we are establishing a dense network of parking spaces in all operational cities and our association with OYO is a step in that direction," said Ashwarya Singh, CEO of Drivezy. Drivezy's also using technology like keyless IoT locks and unlocking using QR codes to safeguard their vehicles.

OYO will now have bikes and cars for rent at their hotels

<ul><li><keyword id="3269053" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rapido">Rapido</keyword> is aiming to achieve at least 1.5x growth than last fiscal. It is the only mobility company that is eyeing profits this year. </li><li>Rapido has already seen 25% of its business bouncing back. </li><li>Pavan Guntupalli, Co-founder, Rapido, talks to us about the story behind launching the brand, its growth, and mantra behind its road to profitability. </li></ul>The lockdown impacted most businesses across the globe. Some shut down and some learnt how to evolve with the changing tides. Home-grown brand Rapido, a Bike-Taxi service provider, saw its revenue plunge in the first two months after COVID hit the country and people were locked inside the four walls of their houses. With it, mobility came to a complete standstill. However, it soon saw a silver lining in June and July as 25% of its business bounced back. One of the reasons behind this demand was that people started avoiding public places and transport. Although, according to Rapido, 80% of India still doesn’t own private vehicles and due to COVID, they needed a safe and secure commute. This presented an opportunity in adversity for Rapido. Explaining why the brand’s demand came back, Pavan Guntupalli, Co-founder, Rapido, said, “Customers became aware that bike taxi is a more open and personalized way for intra-city travel. The customer has an advantage of less exposure to any infection due to his/her limited interaction with the captain (driver) and less touch points.” People also started renting its bikes for longer commutes. “Our average distance has suddenly changed, earlier people were using us for the last mile 3-5km but suddenly because of unavailability of regular public transport, our average distance has increased to 35% in some cities and overall, we saw 25% increase. Now people are using us for home to home travel and not just for last mile connectivity. Somewhere in December, we are hoping to come back to 100% of our business as before,” said Guntupalli. Shifting gears Rapido was growing at around 15% month-on-month from the last 3 years before the pandemic-infused lockdown hit India. It also doubled its presence from 50 cities to 100 in 6 months. Post lockdown, it had to shift its business model from offering bikes and taxies from consumers to distributors. Around 92% of its business came from bike and taxi model (intra-city mobility) and 8% came from logistics (essential supplies). Now, 30% of its total business comes from logistics and 70% from bike taxis. So, it decided to pivot its focus on accelerating the existing logistics business model by following a few initiatives such as delivering essentials at home, supporting the government to resolve supply-chain challenges, etc. “Rapido has been operating delivery services for e-commerce companies for close to 2 years now namely Zomato, Swiggy, Delhivery.com, Myntra, Eat.Fit. SuprDaily, Mapprr, 24*7 Stores, Kalerya, Bharatpe. During the lockdown, we amped up the existing Rapido-Delivery services to provide for the delivery of essential goods and partnered with major online companies like Big Bazaar, Big Basket and Spencer’s for delivery of essential goods,” shared Guntupalli. Building on the demand for logistics further, Rapido launched Rapido Local, a person-to-person delivery service. “Rapido Store is a convenient tool for offline and online businesses to help them reach out and deliver products to their customers in these challenging times. Rapido Store helps local businesses take care of multiple customer deliveries simultaneously in the most affordable and trusted manner. The service is currently operational in Bangalore &amp; Vijayawada and will scale to all cities Rapido is present in,” explained Guntupalli. Marketing Strategy and Understanding Consumers To gain its consumers' trust in a volatile market, Rapido introduced Safety Shields that helped consumers to maintain a safe distance from the driver or Captain, as Rapido calls them. <div type="image" title="rapido safety shields" msid="78221466" hostid="261"></div> Guntupalli said, “The Shield weighs around 400 gms -- it is a lightweight, PVC board that is attached to the Captain’s back like a rucksack. The shield covers the Captain’s body and makes for a considerable distance between the customer and our Captain. Apart from the usual measures, like using masks, sanitizers and the ArogyaSetu App, that we have taken, we felt the Safety Shields will be an added measure of safety during the rides.” It also tweaked its marketing strategy to increase awareness about the safety measures they followed. Its strategy is multi-lingual and regional. “We are trying to help change consumer behaviour towards safety, by helping them embrace the new norms through best practices when it comes to precautions, like bringing their own helmet, and avoiding stepping out. We also ensure that we leverage push notifications, SMS, emailers, in-app training videos, social media campaigns and marketing campaigns in various languages like Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi, to communicate regularly on our company updates and initiatives. We recently launched our first-ever video campaign, #PromiseofProtection, that showcases Rapido’s commitment to the safety and protection of its users, through an understanding of different relationships in our lives. In the initial phase of COVID, we launched a fundraiser for the Captains to provide them with the support they needed to weather the difficult times,” said Guntupalli. Goals for this fiscal As we inch towards normalcy and people have started stepping out, Rapido is aiming to achieve at least 1.5x growth over last fiscal. It is the only mobility company that is eyeing profits this year. According to PGA Labs, bike taxi service is now a $150 million market, growing at 20% month-over-month. In India 300 million people commute every day out of which only 1% happens via apps. It is estimated that bike taxis in India have the potential to create 5+ million livelihood opportunities, generating a revenue of $10 billion. With rapid urbanisation and smart status of cities, bike-taxi is becoming the future of intra-city transport. Due to COVID, they are also avoiding public transport. As a result, Rapido has become the third largest ride sharing platform in the country that sees around 10 million transactions in a month. Now, after securing a leadership position in the Bike Taxi ecosystem across cities, Rapido’s next focus area is to use technology to propel newer models that will help serve end users as well as businesses in the post COVID world. However, vehicle ownership in India is less. Hardly 18-20% people own a vehicle, that means 80% people still don’t have their own vehicle. When the pandemic hit, a huge problem statement was the need for a safe and secure commute. This became an opportunity in adversity for Rapido, as it saw a 25% spike in the month of June and July. Where it all began Rapido introduced bike sharing in our country in 2015. The product was built to bridge the last mile connectivity gaps. People in Tier II, III and beyond towns and cities have limited public transport solutions, some are not even available late in the evenings, making it difficult to look for an affordable option to travel within the city and getting shared autos are a hassle especially if you are a woman. However, being a first mover has its own set of challenges. Rapido was dealing with both cultural and social challenges. People did not feel comfortable sitting behind a stranger. So to woo consumers, Rapido took a quirky route. Guntupalli said, “We took a multilingual approach for our consumer outreach. The idea was to reach larger sets of audiences across Tier I, II and III cities and build affinity with the message. We worked on short, quirky videos that are a trend among tech-savvy millennials. We introduced the brand in a fun and different way to them through 7 videos with themes such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgGQYrlpRHA">Don’t be late, Save Your Date</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMOxf64njqE">KabhiBhiKahinBhi</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXPThvwLKSo">Don’t’ Get Crushed Away In Traffic</a>,<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbvxRnLayYI"> Late for Exam, Just Stay Calm</a>.” It also partnered with traffic police in cities like Vijayawada, Mangalore, Mysore, Kota to name a few, to drive awareness about road safety with helmet distribution campaigns. To make its women customers feel safer, Rapido masks their phone numbers from its captains. It was also the first bike taxi company in India to introduce insurance for both customers and Captains from Day 1. Rapido is now present in 100 cities serving over 10 million customers with 15 lakh+ registered Captains. It is the 3rd largest ride sharing platform in the country with 10 million transactions a month and has recorded over 25 million app downloads.

Rapido shifts focus to logistics; sees 25% business recovery and aims for 1.5x growth next year over FY20

<ul><li>Access new <keyword id="6380337" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="expenses" source="Orion">expenses</keyword> under different heads, say experts. </li><li>Prioritise essential expenses while reducing discretionary spending. </li><li>One can use <keyword id="124303" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="budgeting" source="Orion">budgeting</keyword> apps or spreadsheets to track expenses meticulously. </li></ul>When Tuhin Bora (name changed), 25 initially joined his current company, he enjoyed the luxury of working from home, which translated to minimal financial responsibilities. However, everything changed when he had to relocate from Guwahati to Mumbai as the cost of living in the two cities is chalk and cheese. Unsurprisingly, expenses like rent, groceries, and <keyword id="34991" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="transportation" source="Orion">transportation</keyword> saw a sharp increase. Meanwhile, Shankar Rhad, an IT employee, who shifted temporarily with his parents in Hyderabad from Mumbai during the lockdown when he was offered permanent <keyword id="123591" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="work-from-home" source="Orion">work from home</keyword>. Being asked to go back to the office has meant that he is looking out for another job as the rent and other expenses are bothering him. More companies asking people to come back to the office has meant that employees, especially those who started their career during the pandemic, have to move to a bigger city from their hometown. Like Bora, it has meant a sharp increase in living expenses. For Bora, several areas witnessed substantial increases in expenses. The cost of food, accommodation (which includes a monthly payment of ₹15,000 rupees for his paying guest (PG) accomodation, along with additional electricity and maintenance bills, and travel expenses all surged significantly. Plus, the upfront payment he had to make was substantial. Bora had to pay approximately ₹45,000, which includes ₹15,000 for the broker + ₹15,000 for rent + 15,000 for the security deposit). <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Things to do to minimise the hit" comment="Subhead" text="Things to do to minimise the hit">Things to do to minimise the hit</cmsannotation> Tax Implications: “Be aware of any tax differences that might affect your income in the new city. HRA rules may be different for metro cities that are not your hometown,” says Bhuvanaa Shreeram, co-founder and head of financial planning, House of Alpha, a financial planning firm. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Prioritise essential spends" comment="Subhead" text="Prioritise essential spends">Prioritise essential spends</cmsannotation>: Prioritise essential expenses like food on the table, roof over the head and travel to work while reducing discretionary spending on other expenses. “Reluctant to rely on my parents for financial support, I adopted a more frugal lifestyle, limiting my purchases to necessities and cutting down on certain indulgences, such as cigarettes. With a monthly income of only ₹35,000 rupees, sustaining myself in the expensive city of Mumbai proved to be a big challenge,” says Bora. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Subhead" text="Negotiate salary">Negotiate salary</cmsannotation>: If you're moving to a high-cost city, consider negotiating a higher salary with your employer to offset the increased living expenses. If your employer allows it, and time permits, consider taking up short term projects to earn an extra income. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Housing considerations" comment="Subhead" text="Housing considerations"><keyword id="35061" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="housing" source="Orion">Housing</keyword> considerations</cmsannotation>: Explore different housing options, such as roommates, smaller apartments, or living in a nearby, more affordable suburb and commuting into the city. Bora decided to move into a shared PG even if it meant compromising on privacy. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Transportation choices" comment="Subhead" text="Transportation choices">Transportation choices</cmsannotation>: Opt for public transportation, carpooling, biking, or walking to reduce transportation costs. Avoid owning a car if possible, as this can increase, parking and other expenses in larger cities. For Bora it meant using the Mumbai local and giving up the earlier habit of Uber rides. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Budgeting and saving techniques" comment="Subhead" text="Budgeting and saving techniques">Budgeting and saving techniques</cmsannotation> Once you have settled in, you need to be careful with your finances. Here are some ways to do that. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Track your spending" comment="Subhead" text="Track your spending">Track your spending</cmsannotation>: Use budgeting apps or spreadsheets to track your expenses meticulously. “This will help you identify areas where you can cut costs,” says Shreeram. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Subhead" text="Automate savings">Automate savings</cmsannotation>: Set up automated transfers to your savings account each month. This ensures that you consistently save a portion of your income, even before you have the chance to spend it. The idea is simple, invest first and then spend. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Prioritise repaying high cost debt" text="Prioritise repaying high cost debt">Prioritise repaying high cost debt</cmsannotation>: If you have high-interest debt, focus on paying them. Reducing debt can free up more of your cash flows for living expenses. “In no case your monthly emi should be more than 50% of your monthly earnings,” says Ananth Ladha, founder, Invest Aaj for Kal, a financial planning firm. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Don’t skip long term investments for retirement" comment="Subhead" text="Don’t skip long term investments for retirement">Don’t skip long term investments for retirement</cmsannotation>: Ideally, you should keep putting money into your retirement savings. “If you stop or lower your contributions, it might be tough to achieve your long-term financial goals. Instead, work on making your budget work for both your daily expenses and saving for the future,” says Shreeram. “However, if you are finding it difficult, for a short term, for a maximum of six to nine months, you can decrease your investments, but eventually in the long term you should increase it,” says Ladha. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Build a foundation for the future" comment="Subhead" text="Build a foundation for the future">Build a foundation for the future</cmsannotation> It is important to remember that while going back to office may be a temporary setback financially, it can be a good time to pave the way for a financially secure future. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Networking" comment="Subhead" text="Networking">Networking</cmsannotation>: Moving to a big city brings with it a set of advantages too and one should make the best of such opportunities, Network extensively , leverage connections for learning and seeking opportunities. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Healthcare and insurance" comment="Subhead" text="Healthcare and insurance">Healthcare and insurance</cmsannotation>: Review your health insurance. Healthcare in a city like Mumbai or Bangalore will be more expensive than in a small town or city so you need to increase your sum assured. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Continued education" text="Continued education">Continued education</cmsannotation>: Consider further education or certifications that can boost your income and career prospects. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Long-term planning" text="Long-term planning">Long-term planning</cmsannotation>: Keep an eye on your long-term financial goals and adjust your strategy accordingly. Remember that living in a larger city may provide more career opportunities, which can impact your financial future positively.

Relocating to a metro as WFH has ended? Financial strategies to keep in mind

<ul><li>Ola is investing $100 million in scooter-sharing platform <keyword id="5042995" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vogo">Vogo</keyword> </li><li>The investment will go into helping the company buy a fleet of 100,000 scooters. </li><li>Ola is looking to expand its services beyond cabs in India and banking on ‘last-mile connectivity.’ </li></ul>Ola is looking for a bigger share in the Indian mobility market. After expanding vigorously in the cab-sharing services in India, Ola is reportedly investing $100 million in Vogo, a platform for renting scooters. The investment will be made in tranches, according to media <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/ola-commits-100m-to-scooter-sharing-co-vogo/articleshow/67154225.cms">reports</a>. Ola had earlier participated in a Series A funding round by Vogo that was aimed at raising $7 million. While Vogo has been able to fetch a considerable investment from Ola, it will reportedly continue to function as an independent start-up, reported <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Companies/rLno5nzfDNcAWjcq3H9HnM/Ola-invests-100-million-in-scootersharing-startup-Vogo.html"> LiveMint</a>. The company is planning to build a ‘multi-modal network for first-last mile connectivity’ in the country, Bhavish Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO and co-founder of Ola <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/ola-commits-100m-to-scooter-sharing-co-vogo/articleshow/67154225.cms">told</a> TOI. Ola has been working aggressively to expand its reach in urban transportation. It earlier acquired a transportation information provider, Ridlr. Both Ola and Uber have been in stiff competition in the cab-rental services for a while now. While Uber also offers a similar service under the name ‘<keyword id="3269374" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="uber-moto">Uber Moto</keyword>., However, the service does not allow customers to drive the bike themselves but only accompany an Uber driver. Vogo, which has services in Hyderabad and Bangalore, allows its customers to pick up and rent from certain areas. The problem of congestion at India’s urban cities only seems to be getting worse. Services like scooter-sharing may be a solution for urban Indians, the company hopes. Uber users were able to save nearly 40% of their time when they traveled through ‘Uber Moto,’ Quartz reported. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indian-online-car-rental-company-revv-says-it-will-now-let-users-keep-a-car-for-up-to-4-years-for-a-monthly-subscription-fee/articleshow/66827211.cms">Indian online car rental company, Revv, says it will now let users keep a car for up to 4 years for a monthly subscription fee</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indias-competition-regulator-finds-uber-ola-not-guilty-of-charging-higher-prices/articleshow/66542764.cms">India's competition regulator finds Uber, Ola ‘not guilty’ of charging higher prices</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indias-largest-online-learning-service-is-all-set-to-become-the-4th-highest-valued-indian-startup-with-a-254-billion-valuation/articleshow/66474294.cms">India’s largest online learning service is all set to become the 4th highest valued Indian startup with a ₹254 billion valuation</a>

India’s homegrown cab service company Ola is infusing $100 million into scooter-sharing startup Vogo to boost ‘last-mile connectivity’

Keeping in mind the vast online commuter market, India’s top cab aggregator, <keyword id="6354720" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ola">Ola</keyword> is now prepping-up to introduce <keyword id="3071546" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="motorcycle-taxis">motorcycle taxis</keyword>. 
 The Bangalore-based cab aggregator also plans to launch a shuttle bus service. Not just this, but Ola users will now be able to avail <keyword id="3072073" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="car-pooling">car-pooling</keyword> feature on its mobile application, reported The Economic Times. 
 
The motorcycle taxis and shuttle service, however, might face regulatory issues as these do not have any legal frameworks so far. 
 
Internal sources, requesting anonymity, informed that the bike taxis will be on the lines of Indonesia's GoJek, Blue-Jek and Grabbike, which is being used to transport people as well as goods. 
 Another major add-on to the mobile application, <keyword id="3071503" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="OlaShare">OlaShare</keyword>, is being worked-on for quite some time now. The company, however, declined to respond on the email queries by the business daily. 
 
The firm is also in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Ola-Cabs-new-round-of-fund-raising-to-value-it-above-5-billion/articleshow/49072304.cms">advanced stage of closing a financing round</a> of about $500 million (Rs 3,000 crore), which will give a muscle to the firm for its forthcoming plans. 
 The new services, if compared to the other cab-service providers, might give a tough fight to San Francisco-based <keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword>, which is targeting to enhance its business outside the US with India being one of the most potential markets. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Uber-hopes-to-make-India-its-second-largest-market-sees-Ola-as-competition/articleshow/49087294.cms">(​Uber hopes to make India its second-largest market, sees Ola as competition)</a> 
 
Uber, however, introduced UberPool, its car-pooling service in India, starting with Bengaluru. 
 
Kartik Hosanagar, a professor of technology and digital business at The Wharton School termed the bike-taxi move an interesting one and said, "As of now, it should be seen as an experiment. But one with tremendous potential for Ola... However, the company would have to navigate around regulations." 
 
HeyTaxi, a Mumbai-based motorcycle-taxi company which was launched in June, came under fire from the city's transport department, which has termed the service illegal. 
 A top official at <keyword id="151058" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Delhi-Transport-Department">Delhi Transport Department</keyword> said the state was framing a scheme for a motorcycle-taxi service but there were issues to consider. "As of now it will be deemed illegal. We were planning to launch such a service in Delhi but have put it on hold due to safety concerns," he said. Instead, Delhi launched a scheme for renting self-driven motorbikes in August. 
 
Car-pooling services, too, are in a regulator grey zone. Several state governments encourage personal carpooling as a way to lessen traffic and pollution, but as a business, the service is not covered under any legal framework. 
 
Safety is another area of concern, as riders would have to car-pool with strangers. Meru Cabs verifies co-riders with their PAN or Aadhaar numbers while BlaBlaCar mandates a social network account such as Facebook for logging in. 
 
Experts, on the other hand, agreed upon the fact that car-pooling as a business has huge potential. 
Image: thinkstock

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OYO will now have bikes and cars for rent at their hotels

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