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ZipGo, the newbie out to disrupt BMTC's bus services monopoly?
Written By murali772 - 19 August, 2015
Bangalore Citizen Reports competition public transport privatisation maxi-cabs
Driving along the Indiranagar-Koramangala IRR yesterday, I was intrigued by the sight of ads, all along the road, offering "AC bus services for your daily commute", showing a picture of what are generally termed as "maxi-cabs" (see picture), by a so far unheard of "ZipGo". Checking on the net (here), I now see ZipGo as yet another "services aggregator" (quite like Uber, Ola, etc), but now for the maxi-cab operations.
The maxi-cab services, operating as a parallel bus service, though licensed as "contract carriages" (which allows only operations like taking a pack of school children out on a picnic, or members of a family for a wedding, etc - check here for details), is an open secret in the city. And, though illegal, they fill a huge demand gap that the BMTC just can't meet.
As such, I have been demanding that the Contract Carriage Act, and such restrictive laws, be amended, so that professional players can come into the picture and provide better and safer services, in order to attract car and two-wheeler users to switch-over to the use of these services, with the ultimate objective of de-cluttering our roads. The new Transport and Road Safety Bill, that's in the consideration of the Parliament (check here), facilitates this, though, even if passed, it's the states that have to implement it.
Presently, these maxi-cab services are being operated by what I term the "riff-raff" lot, who, starting off illegally, go through their lives as the victims of the greed of the Transport Dept, RTO, Traffic Police and such officialdom, and in turn, perpetuate their own illegalities, making for an overall mafia-raaj, controlling the sector, with politicos obviously at the head of it all.
In such a scenario, rather than wait for the Act to be passed (and the states implementing the provisions under it, which is going to take ages), what ZipGo has done is to take the plunge (hoping to benefit from the first mover advantage), into an area that provides a huge business opportunity for the future. In strict legal terms, it's a circumvention of the law, making the commuters "members" of their set up. And, of course, it's going to be challenged by the state, prodded by the BMTC unionists and the associated mafia confederation, quite like they did (it's an ongoing battle) in the case of Ola/ Uber, backed by the auto-rickshaw mafioso. But, obviously, the ZipGo types have their strengths, and are not going to be giving in easily, as neither have Ola and Uber.
As for the citizens (commuters in particular), this should be seen as a most welcome development, in that they can dispense with the use of their cars/ two-wheelers, for the daily commute at least, reducing commute costs, and eliminating driving/ riding stress, therewith, apart from benefiting the city too by causing to reduce road clutter. Besides, with the maxi-cab operations shifting to the organised sector, one can hope for greater accountability from the operating staff (rarely do you see auto-rickshaw's and taxi's with number plates in "Kannada only" these days, as different from earlier); and there could be more too.
But, all in all, this caters mostly to the khaas aadmi needs. For total inclusion, it has still got to be regular bus services run by professional players (with BMTC continuing to operate, if it chooses to), all overseen by a properly constituted and empowered regulatory authority, as detailed here.
Muralidhar Rao
COMMENTS
Similar less known services in some segments
vatsan007 - 1 September, 2015 - 08:29
It will not be very different from travel companies which offer maxi-cabs to various offices, except for the fact that Zipgo like Uber/Ola will not own any vehicles and be aggregators. I see the reliability aspect missing (drivers not picking calls, operators denying at the nth moment, ...) and until and unless trust/reliability is established, none of the above services will work long-term.
However, I see maxi-cabs of lesser known private operators work on select busy segments like -- ORR, Yeshwantpur<->Peenya, etc, during peak hours. They operate illegally and pay haftas to continue their operations. These if regularised can augment the existing transport service.
needs a diffrent form of brain power
murali772 - 3 September, 2015 - 06:51
@XS400 - The "Yelli Iddira?" service in BMTC was started as far as back in 2006. If the BMTC mafia had not dumped it (check here), it could easily have evolved to the very best form of tracking service, compared to any across the world even.
A mafia confederation continues to rule the BMTC even today. So, the challenge before TransitPedia or any such enterprise is going to be how to crack the mafia-raaj. Perhaps they could pick on the brains of Ashwin Rao (LokAyukta 'Honourable' Justice Bhaskar Rao's son) after he's released from jail.
TransitPedia - not crowdsourced
xs400 - 3 September, 2015 - 09:39
@Muralidhar Rao
Sorry, In my excitement, I swallowed the hype and connected the "pedia" part from Wikipedia - nothing new about TransitPedia as you said above. I was hoping for a crowd-sourced app like Google does for traffic. Imagine, no need to rely on the mafia, your average bus commuter without realizing it helps her/his fellow commuters simply by carrying a smartphone in her/his pocket! We'll have to wait for Google for such innovations (if ever).
murali772 - 21 September, 2015 - 11:36
Online cab aggregator Ola’s plan to start a bus service in Bengaluru called Ola Shuttle has taken a hit with Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy stating that no permission has been sought for it.
- - - “However, we cannot grant them permission inside Bengaluru city limits, as Bengaluru Metro Transport Corporation is already operational here,” he said. If such operations are launched in Bengaluru city without permission, appropriate action will be taken, he added.
For the full text of the report in the New Indian Express, click here.
Now, the Citizen Matters report, cited in my post of the 17th (scroll above), had, inter alia, stated as follows:
All the comfort apart, are the shuttle service introduced by ZipGo and to be introduced Ola service violating Motor Vehicles Act norms? Yes, says BMTC Staff and Workers’ Federation Convener A N Murthy. He accuses shuttle service providers of violating MVA and plying maxi cabs and buses without obtaining stage carriage permit. “Just like the existing private operators, even the app-based operators ply their vehicles with contract carriage permit. They will have to obtain stage carriage permit for their maxicab services, which they never do. Right from the elected representatives to the officials and police, all turn a blind eye despite being aware of the illegality involved,” he criticises.
The maxicab services, provided by private operators, have been in the picture from long, though operating very much in violation of the Contract Carriage Act. All the same, quite like Mr Murthy has stated, "right from the elected representatives to the officials and police, have all been turning a blind eye" to it. But, now when ZipGo and Ola come forward to professionalise, regularise, and bring in accountability to the services, the minister has a problem.
Isn't the reason very obvious? It was not as if a blind eye was being turned to the maxicab operations. It is plainly a mafia operation, of which they are all a part, in the process, short-changing the public, depriving the state of revenue, and also, being a total menace on the roads.
The need for reforms cannot get more imperative. Besides, public interest is supreme, and not BMTC's (check here)
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