Problem Of Plenty? New Taxi Registrations Down By Half In Bengaluru As Demand Saturates

Falling incomes as compared to the previous years, taxi registrations in Bengaluru have reduced by as much as 49 per cent between 2016-17 and 2017-18. Cab drivers who had started earning a fortune in the initial days of the taxi aggregation business are finding it hard to sustain now, with the market nearing a saturation point.

From 9,374 taxis being registered in 2013-14, the numbers went up to 32,479 in 2016-17. In 2017-18 however, data provided by the transport department shows that the numbers have been cut to half with only 16,595 vehicles being registered. The changing trend is in line with taxi drivers’ income that have come down drastically as reported by The Hindu.

Once stability was achieved in the business, incentives that were given to the cab drivers by the aggregators reduced a lot, leaving them with lesser earning than before.

The report quotes K Radhakrishna Holla, president of Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners’ Association (BTTOA) as saying, “The city has got more taxis than required. Taxi owners are not getting enough bookings, which has affected business. Other factors, too, have played a role, including higher taxes, rise in fuel price, and high cost of maintaining cars.”