Recently, Gurgaon-based autorickshaw hailing app AUTOnCAB had to wave a good bye in the

market. Launched in March 2014 by Co-founder and CEO Vinti Doshi, AUTOnCAB was operated by
New Delhi-based NGA Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and its presence was felt in six cities of India- Noida,
Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Kota, Chandigarh and Jaipur. The app was available on both, Android and iOS
platforms.

The reason for shut down: Reports by Tech Circle

AUTOnCAB, who aimed to facilitate one million rides by expanding in 200 cities by the end of 2016,
was not able to withstand the competition given by well-funded rivals Uber, Jugnoo and Ola. Hence,
the startup started from laying off its 40 employees. Lately, Uber and Ola were offering a lot of
discounts, incentives and deals to survive in this competitive market of cab aggregators. AUTOnCAB
were not in a position to burn cash unnecessarily. Moreover, it was heard that the startup was in
talks to conduct a fresh funding round. However, it failed to crack the deal. In the past, AUTOnCAB
had raised $1 Million in a funding round from US-based Maan Ventures and an undisclosed private
investor.

Definitely, India is a growing market for such tech-driven startups. But, some like Uber and Ola are
touching the sky; while AUTOnCAB breaks down.

What do you think about startup shut down? Kindly comment below.

Takeaways:g

 AUTOnCAB, who aimed to facilitate one million rides by expanding in 200 cities by the
end of 2016, was not able to withstand the competition given by well-funded rivals
Uber, Jugnoo and Ola.
 Hence, the startup started from laying off its 40 employees.
 AUTOnCAB were not in a position to burn cash unnecessarily.

A number of startups came up in India, wanting to be the Uber

for three-wheeler auto-rickshaws (Southeast Asia’s tuk-tuks).
And they even caught the attention of observers abroad as the
poor man’s Uber. These mobile auto-hailing apps are
“demonstrating how modern technology can be mashed up with
traditional technology to solve problems in developing cities
around the world,” gushed Harvard Business Review.

Unfortunately, the ground reality is different. Adoption has

been slow among drivers even in tech hubs like Bangalore and
Gurgaon (near Delhi). Riders haven’t rushed for them either,
because the fares on hatchback Uber cars work out almost the
same as auto-rickshaw fares.
Inevitably, the auto-rickshaw apps have started to die.
Gurgaon-based Autoncab’s closure is a case in point. Another
one that shut down earlier was AutoRaja. “My main motive for
starting AutoRaja was to make the auto-rickshaw drivers a part
of the organized sector,” AutoRaja co-founder Aishwarya
Raman told Tech in Asia. After shutting down her startup, she
joined Ola Auto to “gain experience.”

It’s probably the well-funded players like Ola – or Uber itself –

who’re better placed to crack the “Uber for auto-rickshaw”
space. The smaller players just don’t have the financial muscle,
knowhow, and experience for it.

Case Context
Due to the introduction of app based auto booking,consumers were relieved from the
pains of cost bargaining and it also helped in increasing income for auto rickshaw drivers.
However,there were some auto drivers who thought that these companies were
approaching
individual drivers which were affecting auto rickshaw union.
Because of the increasing competition in app based cab and auto booking,the
customers were not willing to wait for longer time and they wanted their services as quick
as possible.If any delays occured in their services,they did not hesitate to switch the app
from where they could get the same services in less time.Due to massive competition,
companies were also providing customers with different offerings to attract the customers
towards their services.
One of the biggest challenges companies were facing was to trust drivers.The auto
drivers got paid for each ride.To make money through more number of rides,they booked
the taxi from their unregistered numbers or their relative's number and drove for l to 2 km
(the minimum distance decided by company)to become eligible for taking their chunk of
money from the companies.Also,they provided good ratings to themselves because they
gol paid for each ride and the ratings.

Competitiors

Jugnoo
Ola
Uber