[App Fridays] Constapark provides on demand valet parking and VASs such as refuelling and car washes

Finding a parking space in most metro cities is an uphill task. Some people thus prefer to take cabs, instead of their own vehicles, to avoid the hassle of searching for a parking spot and then possibly running late. Also, parking at street corners leaves vehicles unguarded from potential damage by miscreants or natural causes. Constapark aims to solve this pain point through a mobile app.

What is it?

Constapark is an on-demand valet parking service that aims to optimise the process of parking cars. Through the app, a user can request a valet to come to a designated spot (within their service location), take their vehicle, and park it in an enclosed space till the patron needs it again. Constapark acts as a valet solution provider for high street retail outlets and also restaurants. They also offer on demand parking for the general public.

They provide all their customers insurance upto Rs 50 lakhs, in general liability policies, for the time vehicles are in their care. They work on both B2B and B2C models. Chetan Chauhan, CoFounder of Constapark adds,

The average time spent on finding a parking spot in Bangalore is around 20 to 30 minutes, and almost 50% of people give up and drive away. Also people are possessive about their cars in India and won’t hand it over unless we can guarantee the safety.

Idea to execution

Constapark was co-founded by Chetan and Mehul Pangtey, who have five years of experience in business and technology, respectively. This venture came about as a result of their own difficulties in parking their vehicles. After doing extensive research in the sector in 2013, and understanding the patterns of vehicles in Bangalore, they launched their alpha version in 2014 to receive validation for their idea. They started out by providing advanced booking services but realized that because of delays and other factors cross bookings occurred and so on demand service model was more suitable for India.

They launched their beta version in January 2015, and then finally went public in May 2015. Lawrence Sathish, with 24+ years of experience in the sector, looks after parking operations and Sebastian Yesudas, with 10+ years of experience, oversees the ground operations. There are players in this sector such as Pparke in India, and on the global front, Luxe Valet, Zirx, and Valet Anywhere. Chetan adds,

With more and more vehicles plying on the road every day, the market size of this sector is huge, thus currently there is low supply and high demand for such services. In Bangalore, across five RTOs, almost 1300 vehicles are registered everyday.

Constapark’s services are currently active in Koramangala and Indiranagar in Bangalore. Users need to select a drop-off location, and a uniformed valet driver will wait at the designated spot to take the car to their secure parking facilities. After users are done with their errands or meetings, they can tap a button on the app and request for their cars to be brought back to them wherever needed. Currently, all payments are cashless, and users can pay through on-line payment gateways or Paytm wallets. They charge Rs 70 for the first hour, and Rs 35 for each additional hour.

Constapark ensures that all valets in their network are trained professionals with at least three years of driving experience, and have undergone the necessary background checks. Their services are currently available from 10am to 11pm. In the future, they aim to offer overnight services as well.

Value added services

Constapark considers its USP the ability to save their customers time and effort, and make sure they do not have to worry about parking and the safety of their cars. In addition to parking, users can request the valet driver to refuel their vehicles for Rs. 50 in addition to the cost of the fuel,and get them washed for Rs 300. Chetan says,

With these value added services, we are looking to provide end-to-end solutions for vehicle owners to save them time and effort on routine tasks.

What we liked

The app has a minimalistic user interface that is easy to use. It provides users information through rate cards and history and also has the ability to report a bug to them.

Their approach, and the additional services such as refuelling and getting cars washed, are interesting add-ons. Also for each of the two locations, Constapark has clearly outlined the extent of their service area on the in-app map. This makes it easier for users to know where they need to be to dropped off or collect their vehicles.

What could be improved?

The team has received feedback that the app is not fully functional on some devices and are working on improving the same. In future iterations of the app, they are also planning to include additional features such as estimated time of arrival (ETA) of a driver as he brings a vehicle to a customer, and also the ability to see where their car is parked on a map.

YS verdict

Constapark offers an interesting proposition, whose aim is saving users’ time and effort. It will be interesting to see how they scale their operations and add more locations to their list. Chetan confirms that they are planning to offer their services in the MG Road, UB City and Commercial Street areas in the future.

Website: Constapark

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Related read: How Sathyanarayanan made managing ‘parking lots’ a whole lot easier with CPS