Ola- Bike-Taxis Offer Potential to Generate Over 2 Million Livelihoods

By Samachar Vishesh News

Chandigarh 18^th Mar, 2020:- Ola Mobility Institute (OMI), today released an in-depth report that underscores the importance of two-wheelers in India and the potential of bike-taxis to stimulate economic and social development. The report titled, ‘The Power of Two Wheels-Bike Taxis: India’s new shared mobility frontier’ offers insights and recommendations and calls for an enabling policy framework to widen the scope of bike-taxis. 

With the emergence of ride-hailing services, bike-taxis have gained popularity as a made-for-India solution. OMI in its detailed study has conducted an empirical analysis of bike taxi operations in Gurugram and Jaipur. The study found that bike taxis are an ideal first mile-last mile solution as 70-85% of customers prefer to use bike-taxis to travel distances less than 7 kms. In Gurgaon, it has been observed that 1 in 3 trips are to and from metro stations with the majority of trips happening during peak hours. 

The report further quantifies the benefits of bikes-taxis in providing affordable and safe first and last mile connectivity, income augmentation and job-creation. It provides a detailed explanation of how States and UTs in India stand to gain socially and economically by legitimising the operations of bike taxis.

Speaking on the report, Anand Shah, Head, Ola Mobility Institute said that India has one of the largest numbers of two wheelers plying on the roads in the world. Shared mobility and hyper local delivery are witnessing strong uptake and bikes have emerged as the preferred choice for both passenger and goods movement. The report comes at a critical time when India needs to create 55-60 lakh new jobs annually over the next decade. Bike taxis will be key in achieving this target, democratising access to mobility and building an inclusive mobility ecosystem.

The report estimates the revenue potential of bike taxis is at USD 4-5 billion along with generating over 2 million livelihood opportunities. It suggests that the key to effectively governing bike taxis as a mobility category lies in providing coherent legal clarity, integration of public transit systems, allowing access to formal credit for driver entrepreneurs and creating a level-playing field for all stakeholders.

The Central Government has paved the way for States to formulate policies for bike-taxi operations, however, currently, only a few States and Union Territories regulate this category. State governments can unlock the potential of bike-taxis as an affordable, efficient, fast and a safe mode of transportation to help India become a five trillion-dollar economy.