Car rental firm Zoomcar, which announced an auto-rickshaw self-drive rental service earlier this week, has reported an ‘overwhelming response’ with about a thousand inquiries generated since the launch.
The start-up is currently doing a pilot run with limited auto-rickshaw inventories across six cities in India – Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.
The launch of the auto-rickshaw self-drive rental service is part of its efforts to transform the self-drive industry in India, said the company.
Customers are allowed to drive the auto-rickshaw for only 30 minutes for each booking. They will have to pay Rs40 for a 30-minute drive on the rickshaw. They will also have to undergo a 10-minute session with the fleet executive before driving the vehicle.
Even during the drive, the customer will be accompanied by two professionals, post the guidance session. And since it is a pilot project, the customer is allowed to drive in a one-km radius around the pick-up site. Customers have to keep a refundable security deposit of Rs5,000.
According to Greg Morgan, co-founder and CEO, Zoomcar, the company does not see any regulatory issues in getting permissions for operating self-drive auto-rickshaws.
Zoomcar's co-founder and CEO Greg Morgan, while speaking to dna, said, that the company quickly received about 1,000 inquiries after they launched on Monday.
Source : BS Motoring