Without middlemen, Namma Yatri autorickshaw drivers earn Rs 5.6 crore in just four months

According to Rudramurthy, general secretary of Auto Rickshaw Driver’s Union, which developed the app, the platform aims to stick to the vision of “open mobility” by ensuring transparency in the services provided through the app. The dashboard also shows real-time data on the availability of drivers, completed trips and the top five areas in Bengaluru with high ridership.

As of 6.30 pm, Mahadevapura, Byatranapura, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bengaluru South and Bommanahalli are the top five areas that recorded more ridership, ranging between 335 (Bommanahalli) to 435 (Mahadevpura). According to Rudramurthy, around 9,000 trips are completed on an average in Bengaluru daily.

Rudramurthy told indianexpress.com, “The display of real-time statistics on the dashboard is a testimony to the transparency of the services which involve no middlemen or any commission. However, we are facing technical challenges in terms of location inaccuracy, which is almost fixed now.”

A screen grab of the Namma Yatri dashboard

As per the government rules, the app charges Rs 30 for the first 2km and Rs 15 for subsequent kilometres. The app also charges a pickup fare of Rs 10 for every booking. However, the developers are also planning to roll out metro-to-home pick and drop services with a flat fare of Rs 55 (including the pickup fee of Rs 10) within a 3km radius and Rs 40 (including the pickup fee of Rs 10) within a 2km radius. Hospital-to-home pick and drop services will also be rolled out similarly, Rudramuthy said. The developers are also planning to make such trips “no cancellation” trips.

The autorickshaw drivers’ union has written to the commissioner of the directorate of urban land transport, V Manjula, who is also the chief executive of the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority, calling for banning white-board two-wheeler taxis over safety concerns. The union has also said that companies like Rapido and Uber are onboarding youngsters by “deceiving them and spoiling their lives”. In addition, the union has also sought behavioural training for autorickshaw drivers.

A screen grab of the Namma Yatri dashboard.

Independent urban mobility expert Satya Arikutharam said, “The power of the open mobility concept is that there is no middleman and commission and that the driver has got complete agency. The strategic message of the open mobility network is, what value are Ola and Uber adding in return for the huge commission they collect from the drivers?”

The Namma Yatri app was introduced by the auto drivers’ union as aggregators such as Ola and Uber levied high commission from autorickshaw drivers. The app was developed on the common network standards defined by the Open Network for Digital Commerce, built on the open-source Beckn protocol. The common network standards allow interoperability for any buyer app compliant with the network standards to offer rides.