Ravi Prasad, an IT employee in Bellandur, who normally books an auto every day to and from office through ride-hailing players such as Ola and Uber, recently switched to ‘Namma Yatri’ app. Mr. Prasad said he started to use this app after many auto drivers requested him to download the app every time he travelled.
“Whenever I book an auto on Ola and Uber, the auto drivers tell me about the ‘Namma Yatri’ app and they request me to download the app since many auto drivers have switched to this app and the availability of the autos have increased. I have been using the app for the last month. The fare is cheapest compared to other apps,” Mr. Prasad said.
The Namma Yatri app is a product of Bengaluru’s Auto Rickshaw Drivers’ Union (ARDU). Built by Juspay Technologies and backed by the Beckn Foundation (by Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani), it was launched in November 2022 in partnership with the city’s auto drivers. It is currently an open source and does not take any commission from drivers and also available in Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). ONDC is a technology platform backed by the Union government to facilitate direct seller-to-customer transactions, cutting out middlemen.
The app is now used by more than 10 lakh people. General secretary of Auto Rickshaw Drivers’ Union of Bengaluru T.M. Rudramurthy argued that the app protects the interests of both drivers and passengers. “The app has more than 65,000 registered drivers who have been benefiting from it. The app doesn’t charge any commission from the drivers and the customers. The payment is made directly to the drivers on time. All this has been increasing the popularity of the app,” Mr. Rudramurthy said.
Word-of-mouth publicity
According to the app website, Namma Yatri is a Direct-to-Driver app and there is no commission or middlemen. What the customer pays goes 100% to the driver and is built on an open mobility platform. It claims to be India’s first open mobility app. The app has a dashboard where it shares all the data of live ongoing trips, completed trips, drivers earnings, registered drivers, customers details, and area-wise statistics on completed trips.
What drivers say
The success of the app is attributed to word-of-mouth publicity mainly by auto drivers. Syed Naiyu, an auto driver from Ejipura, said: “The app is very comfortable to use and there are no issues of commission and hidden cost. I have been telling all the passengers to use the app. I have made more than 50 auto drivers join the platform and they are happy.”
Sreekumar K.V., auto driver from Rajajinagar, said: “It’s been four months since I have been taking trips through Namma Yatri. I get at least 20 to 30 trips daily and earn ₹2,000 to ₹4,000. Other ride hailing players charge at least 30% commission, which is a big loss to us.”
Currently, the service is available in Bengaluru and Mysuru.
