The beginning
Experienced entrepreneur and IIT Delhi Alumnus Amit Grover had a lot of trouble arranging for a trip from Delhi to Bhopal and back last year. After the return ticket got cancelled at the 11th hour, Amit attempted to book a car for the return journey, but he was shocked at realizing that all drivers were demanding double charges for a one-way journey. And in fact, this problem Is a staple feature of long-distance journeying via hired cars in India. In addition, a conspicuous lack of car aggregating services forces those who desire to hire cars for such journeys to undertake a lot of hassle in finding the right car-driver-fare combination. Amit, along with fellow entrepreneurs Praveen Samariya (another IIT Delhi alumnus), Kunal Krishna and Shivam Mishra(who formerly ran CrazZy) then set up AHA Taxis, an online outstation car rental booking portal, which aims at making hiring cars for long-distance journeys a painless, inexpensive process.
Excellent services benefiting a wide range of travelers
AHA Taxis has several noteworthy features which are geared towards enhancing the user’s convenience. Those wishing to avail of its services only need to specify the city from which they intend to begin their journey, the destination in question, and the trip dates.Both round trips, as well as one-way trips, can be booked. Details of the taxis available for the journey-the make of car, the total estimated amount required, and the amount to be payed in advance-are then specified, along with the chance to book whichever option appears most convenient. Typically three categories of trips are possible, based on the vehicle involved.
These are :
a)AHA Economy : Typically, the cars on offer in this case are 4-seater Indicas or Santros. AHA Economy cars optimize safety and comfort to create the ideal budget ride for small families and students.
b)AHA Business : The cars on offer here are Indigos or Dzires. AHA Business cars are meant primarily for business professionals. They offer sufficient space to executives to complete their work while travelling.
c)AHA Premium : Optimised for maximum comfort, AHA Premium cars are normally Innovas or Xylos, and are typically 6 seaters. These are meant for long distance journeys by relatively big groups.
All cars on offer are comfortable and adhere to the latest safety standards. Moreover, they are all air conditioned.
The innovative fare pricing system, and an eye to the future
AHA Taxis’s biggest USP is its offer of one-way fares, which greatly reduce costs, thereby opening up AHA Taxis’s services to budget travelers. All fares are levied on a per journey basis. One way fares for all categories of travel are fixed, with return journeys(in case of a round trip) being priced at Rs 10/km, Rs 11/km and Rs 13/km for the AHA Economy, Business and Premium categories respectively. Moreover, their services can be availed of both via its excellent portal, with its wonderful interface, or the easy-to-use Android app.
Currently, AHA Taxis offers services across over 100 cities, all of which are in North India. Given the huge potential of the startup, plans are in place to expand services to over 500 cities and attain a pan-Indian profile over the next six months. AHA Taxis also lists the most popular routes on its portal-among these are trips from Delhi to Shimla, Manali, Dehradun and Agra, to name a few.
The bottom line
In a short span since its founding, AHA has greatly benefited a multitude of travelers, making long-distance travel easy, comfortable and inexpensive. Its services have already benefited a wide variety of people, ranging from students and business professionals to holidaymakers. One can only expect this startup to go from strength to strength in the years ahead, revolutionizing travel as a whole.
To avail of their services, visit AHA Taxis’s website, or download the Android app here.
