For and by women: Bengaluru's WomenCabs service ensures safe ride for you
BENGALURU: Sushma wanted a cab to go to the airport at 3 am, but was scared to call any of the cab aggregators as she felt it was not safe for a single woman to ride in them in the dead of the night. After a reference from a friend, she called the WomenCabs, which was launched in the city on April 3 to cater exclusively to women and families.
Soon after the call, a high-end car arrived at Sushma’s doorstep with a woman chauffeur, donning a black T-shirt, behind the wheels and a woman security guard to give her protection.
An initiative of R2R (Rozi to Roti) Ventures, the woman-only service has 65 drivers and a fleet of five cabs. You can order a cab through email, app or a phone call. Mr Shailendra Singh, founder, R2R, said, “The cabs are fitted with an SMS-based trip tracker service that enables a woman commuter to send messages about her location and other details to her friends and relatives. The updates are sent once every 15 minutes.”
To ensure the safety of women commuters and drivers, the cabs are fitted with GPS tracking devices, microphones and panic buttons, which can alert the control room in case of any incident. The company has five mobile quick response teams consisting of two ex-army men who can be deployed anywhere in the city.
It also runs a special service for pregnant women who need immediate medical assistance. The women drivers, who are trained to deal with such emergencies, are rushed to the spot. WomenCabs is planning to increase its fleet to 25 cabs by June-end. Under its next phase, the company is planning to seek the help of a few city NGOs to provide jobs to transgenders.
Extensive training
The women drivers have been put through a rigorous training programme of 14 months in batches of 12 under the supervision of ex-army men. Apart from driving skills, the drivers are also trained in vehicle maintenance, self-defence, customer interaction and communication. They can not only take care of themselves but also their women passengers, if the need arises.
