The women-owned, women-operated service introduced in Kerala's capital Thiruvanathapuram in November last year with an initial fleet of five cars has now expanded to 20 cabs and has carried more than 9,000 passengers so far.
Kochi will become the second city in Kerala to have She Taxis on the road when Chief Minister Shri Oommen Chandy will officially launch the service here on May 19.
State Minister for Social Justice, Dr M K Muneer said taxis will soon be introduced in Kozhikode city and in a phased manner in other locations.
Urban bodies in Hyderabad and Bangalore have expressed interest in replicating the She Taxi model.
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"The project has achieved remarkable progress both in terms of popularity and earnings in the last six months. We started this business model to help women entrepreneurs earn a monthly income of at least Rs 20,000, but the incomes are comfortably above that level", Muneer said.
A sector like transport is not something that women entrepreneurs readily enter into, but the massive public response to the She Taxi has changed that. Once the service expands to other cities it is going to transform the lives of thousands of women in the state, he said.
The customized pink and white taxis, supplied by Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., have collectively covered more than two lakh kilometres inside and outside the state. The women drivers have made outstation trips to Ponmudi and Munnar within Kerala and to destinations including Kanyakumari and Thirunelveli in Tamil Nadu.