UTOO to take on Ola, Uber in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune soon

After hitting Chennai and Hyderabad roads, serial entrepreneur and former Aircel promoter C Sivasankaran's taxi aggregator service UTOO is set to make inroads in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Pune.

The Chennai-based start-up is competing with the taxi aggregator majors Uber and Ola. Billionaire investor Ajay Piramal also bought a minor stake in it, some months after it was launched last year.

The development comes at a time when Uber and Ola drivers are protesting over falling earnings in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh. Drivers complain their earnings have halved over six months. According to reports, Ola and Uber have added around 600,000 vehicles in the last five-odd years.

Sivasankaran said UTOO got the licence in Bengaluru and would add up to 9,500 cars, with 500 to begin with, funded by UTOO.

Declining to elaborate on strategy, he said: "Customers are intelligent and can make out the difference between exploitation and reasonable service." He added UTOO drivers would not have to pay the 20% other aggregators charge from drivers. The company will start the service in the next two weeks in Bengaluru.

According to reports, Bengaluru being a major information technology hub, is the largest market in India for Ola and Uber, accounting for about a third of their combined business, with around 150,000 taxis.

UTOO will expand its service to Mumbai and Pune by April. By the end of the calendar year, it hopes to be present in 12 cities. "Our idea is not to replace Uber or Ola. We want to set standards which other service providers will follow," said Sivasankaran.