Jugnoo starts pilot for women driven autos in Noida, plans to roll out to multiple cities

To increase women participation in on-demand economy, Chandigarh-based autorickshaw hailing app Jugnoo started onboarding female drivers on its platform. Currently, the initiative seems to be running on pilot. The company has registered it’s first female driver in Noida and plans to onboard two female drivers every month across multiple cities.

Paytm backed venture will impart training to women drivers on their own safety and make them aware of traffic regulations among others. This initiative is a part of company’s social responsibility with aim to increase women passengers in the region.

Samar Singla, Co-founder and CEO, Jugnoo said,

Fortunately, the mindsets at the grass root levels have really seen a sea change, and it was only welcoming for us to come across women who were ready to take on the challenge and deliver in this male-dominated industry.

Importantly, Bengaluru-based ZipGo launched women only shuttle services in some parts of NCR (Dwarka, Gurgaon and Manesar) and planning to launch the full fleet across the entire NCR . “There are ladies who are breaking social norms and driving auto rickshaws to make a consistent living and it is more of a natural progression for Jugnoo to get them on-board making them more efficient and provide them with consistent income,” adds Samar.

Safety is a huge concern for women when it comes to the daily commute. Cabs are expensive for daily commute for the majority because of surge in pricing and unavailability issues during peak hours adds to the woes. Auto rides are easily available, relatively cheaper and less time consuming as far as last mile connectivity is concerned.

HerStory’s take

The initiative appears to be a win-win situation for women drivers as well as commuters. After the unfortunate incident of 2104 in Delhi (involving Uber), demand of women specific cabs and autos had picked up but not in a big way. Cities like Gurgaon already had the concept of pink autos (women only) from over two years but it’s not very popular amongst female commuters.

Besides ZipGo and Jugnoo, budget hotel aggregator Oyo also had launched women exclusive hotels Oye We in Delhi which is operational in Gurgaon only and reportedly sees consistent demand.

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