A Herald Island (suburb of North Shore) based company has launched a new computerised application enabling people to call for taxis with ease, simplicity and speed.
‘Youchoose IT Limited,’ a fully owned New Zealand Company (by Bhopinder Sharma, his wife Payal and their son Arjun) has created a platform for its beta version of ‘Cabchooze’ smartphone application, which is free to use for commuters, residents and visitors – virtually anyone in need of an almost instant taxi service.
Mr Sharma claimed that the new application is the first of its kind in the world and that ‘Cabchooze’ will revolutionise the traditional taxi ordering facility.
“This application is free for people hailing taxis and is a fully New Zealand owned and operated product and service,” he said at the launch ceremony held on June 23 at Rutherford Room in Alexandra Park.
He said that his son’s inability to hail a taxi late at night two years ago triggered the idea to develop the application.
“It took him hours to get a cab and the price was so high that he was really quite shocked, which made him come up with the idea of ‘Why can’t cabs be available to the consumer conveniently?’ Cabchooze provides people the choice to pick their cab based on its rating, how quickly it can come to them and on the fare,” he said.
Customers can download the free App to their iPhone or Android mobile handsets using App Store or Google Play. The programme would be ready to use after the GPS facility is enabled.
Friendly & fast
According to Mr Sharma, taxis are seen parked at various places waiting for someone to hail them, cruising empty on the roads looking for customers or rushing to secure a place in busy ranks.
“We have built an IT platform that creates a virtual shop front to connecting customers with closest Taxi drivers in real-time. The Application, with user-friendly interface, sends the user’s taxi request to multiple taxi drivers, who in turn would bid fare and estimated time to pick up the user,” he said.
Mr Sharma said that Cabchooze provides the customer with multiple options based on taxi rating, fare and earliest availability of a taxi.
“Cabchooze riders can also view a taxi approaching towards them in real time and the route of their intended journey using the map feature in the App. After completion of the ride, the customer and the taxi driver would have the option to rate each other’s experience,” he said.
Mr Sharma said that the App is available on iPhone and Android format and that it would benefit customers to get better price and faster service.
Dollar coupons
“Beta version users of ‘Cabchooze’ App get $25 worth of e-Taxi coupons, which they can use when ordering a taxi. This has been designed to give full control of the ride to the user. Users can choose the price and the turnaround time most suited to them. Safety of the user is of utmost importance to ‘Cabchooze,’ and hence our service- providing members are licenced taxi drivers,” he said.
The Company has trained about 160 taxi drivers over the past four months, providing them smartphones.
“More Training and recruitment is in progress,” Mr Sharma said.
“Life gets demanding when a taxi is required during odd hours, busy time or in rain. Cabchooze App interfaces can now provide a fingertip solution to people in Auckland.”
For more information, visit www.cabchooze.co.nz
About three years ago, FundaGroup Insurance Brokers, also owned by Mr Sharma launched ‘Taxi+Rite,’ a product that offers cost-effective solutions to taxi owners and operators (Indian Newslink, August 1, 2010).
“This policy has been underwritten by an insurance company that has an A+ rating. It would appeal to a large number of taxi operators in the country. Taxi+Rite is a comprehensive taxi insurance cover with online tracking and management of claims,” he had said.
Photo :
Bhopinder Sharma (Centre) and others at the launch of ‘Cabchooze.’
