Armed with a fleet of 500 luxury taxis, equipped with transmitters, a satellite-tracking system, and electronic fare meters, the company promises to provide a service that is just a phone call away, ensuring that a car will be at your doorstep in minutes.
"What we provide the customer is a safe, secure, comfortable, convenient and above all, a highly efficient way of travelling within city limits," according to managing director Kunal Lalani.
The company is currently in talks with financial institutions to part finance the first phase of the project, estimated at around Rs 47 crore. Lalani said that a deal has been worked out with ICICI to finance 85 per cent of the costs required to build a fleet of high-end luxury taxis, comprising Maruti Esteem, Cielo and Fiat Sienna.
The service, which is expected to hit the roads in Delhi by the first week of September, will also be available in Mumbai, Calcutta and Chennai by next year. Maruti Udyog is at present training Mega Corp's team of drivers for the D-day, Lalani said.
Mega Corp has tied up with TAIT Electronics, New Zealand and Emcom, South Africa for technical know-how. The company envisages revenues of Rs 30 crore from second year itself, and expects that they will increase manifold as and when the franchisee network is extended to other metros.
"We want to bring to India the concept of radio taxi car, which is already quite popular and successful in the developed countries," he added.
"Another important feature about our service is that all our taxis run on compressed natural gas (CNG) and not diesel. Our service is eco-friendly, and does not pollute the atmosphere like ordinary taxis do," Lalani said.
How the service works: As soon a customer calls up Mega Corp's 4-digit toll free number, the satellite-enabled global positioning system (GPS) at the company's control room tracks the area from which the call is being made, and also the taxis that are nearest to that area. Within seconds of the customer giving the location, the control room informs a taxi plying in the area nearest to the caller, and sends it on its way.
Tariffs for the service, Lalani says, are marginally higher than those of Cool Cabs, available in Mumbai, but the quality of service rendered is better and more efficient.
