Jugnoo applies for a patent for offline bookings

Honestly speaking, I have faced this thing not once but n number of times in my life- wanting to book a cab or an auto but no internet or low connectivity. A welcome change to this is very much in sight now auto-rickshaw aggregator Jugnoo has filed a patent that allows operations of its app in offline mode as well.

Aiming to transform the current ride-hailing ecosystem, Jugnoo has renovated its internet dependent smartphone application, into an internet-independent system, facilitating booking rides for users even with no internet access.

Elaborating further on the new disruptive feature, Samar Singla, Founder and CEO Jugnoo said, “In an era such as today, while we talk of groundbreaking technologies and the internet that not only connects humans but machines too, there are still people who do not have access to the internet or suffer connectivity issues in our country. Conventional methods of a taxi or auto-rickshaw booking through mobile apps are dependent on the internet. Factoring in both the aspects, we felt there was a need to introduce a feature that enabled our users to avail the same service through the app, even in the case of no internet access on their smartphones.”

“The introduction of this feature is directed towards bridging this gap and providing our users with a robust system to book rides in offline mode. Through this feature, we intend to provide a commercially practical procedure to book rides in the absence of internet connectivity,” he added.

The new feature by Jugnoo works on the philosophy of longstanding SMS service. In case of low or no internet connectivity, Jugnoo user will have an option to book a ride from their current location or from a list of previously saved geographic locations or by selecting a location from stored map on the user’s smartphone.

Additionally, users will also have an option to select their pickup location on the cached map through manual selection. Once the location has been set by the user and a request for ride is made, a pre-structured SMS with location details will be triggered from the user’s phone. On receiving that SMS, Jugnoo servers and third party services will decipher the information and automatically assign the nearest available ride to the customer. The status and details of the ride will be shared with the user through an SMS. The users will also have an option to cancel the booked ride. Once the internet resumes, the ride details and other features associated with the ride will be available for the user through the Jugnoo application.

Founded by Samar Singla and ChinmayAgarwal in 2014, this Chandigarh based company has over 12,000 autos empanelled under its brand at present and has a presence in 35 cities across India.