Meru Cab eyes expansion, targets more cities

Meru Cab Company, the leading radio taxi service provider in India which operates services in 10 cities, aims to expand operations to another 10 cities including Chandigarh, Bhopal and Nagpur by the end of FY 2014-15. Set up in 2007, Meru currently operates a fleet of over 10,000 cars.  

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Meru Genie cab service in Chennai,  Siddhartha Pahwa, CEO, told Autocar Professional that there is enormous potential for radio taxies in India, given that just 5 percent of the radio cab market is organized. He added that the organized radio taxi service segment will continue to grow by over 25 percent CAGR in the next 5-10 years.

Without offering a concrete number on the overall cars that the company is looking to add to its existing fleet, Pahwa said there is huge demand for its services and in certain cities demand exceeds the supply. Meru Cab operates through three business models – company owned, driver owned and associates’ cars.

Meru Cab entered the Chennai market five months back and has extended its services with the launch of the Genie brand. Meru Genie is a value brand targeted at customers who need smaller cars and shorter distances with hatchbacks like the Toyota Etios Liva, Ford Figo and Tata Vista. The regular Meru service offers cars like the Toyota Etios, Tata Manza and Maruti Dzire.

According to Pahwa, in the last five months, the company has received an encouraging response in Chennai. It is now exploring possibilities to introduce this service to other cities in Tamil Nadu such as Trichy, Madurai and Coimbatore.