India born Meru, which is right now among top 3 Indian taxi operators, has forged an alliance with France based Taxis G7; which empowers them to expand across 6 countries spread over three continents.
Thus, Meru has now become 1st Indian taxi operator to expand globally.
As per information received, resources under Meru and eCab, which is a brand under Taxis G7, would be now pooled together and offered to all customers of both of these brands. Hence, eCab customers from abroad, who are visiting India, can now book a Meru cab seamlessly from their app. Similarly, Meru customers who are travelling to countries like France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and Canada can now book a eCab taxi without any trouble.
In fact, Meru customers can use eCab taxies across 50 major cities, all over the world.
On a broader level, Meru has now expanded their reach to over 50 lakh mobile-centric customers, who are using taxis via app. This number includes both Meru and eCab’s customer base, across 6 countries.
Siddhartha Pahwa, CEO of Meru Cabs, said, “We are proud to become the first Indian radio taxi player to forge a global alliance and become a part of eCab alliance, driven by prestigious Taxis G7 which enjoys strong presence across key international markets.”
As of now, eCab customers visiting India can book a Meru cab in these 6 cities: New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. By the end of 2015, this cross-service would be made available across 23 Indian cities, where Meru is operating right now.
Overall, this alliance between Meru and Taxis G7 has created a vast pool of 33,000 cabs, across 6 countries and 3 continents. 8 year old Meru has around 20,000 cabs across 23 cities in India, while eCab has a network of 13,000 affiliated taxies across major European cities.
Owning to cut throat competition in India, Meru is now looking for more International alliances; and as per various reports, they may soon start operations in Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka very soon.
Meru had initially started their taxi business by owning their own fleet of cars; but after the introduction of aggregator based model by Ola and Uber, they are also attempting something similar. Such international alliances are part of the bigger strategy to leverage resources, and make a bigger impact.
Technologically, Meru has been flexible enough to adapt the best practices. For instance, last year, Meru introduced the cashless facility for their customers; introduced Paytm, Mobikwik based payments and even started their own car-pooling service last month.
It would be interesting to observe how well their international alliance works out; and whether it would start a new trend in this industry.
