Women safety tracking in cabs gets green signal

MUMBAI, INDIA: A swelling crime rate across the country has brought to light the issue around "safety" - becoming a matter of national concern in India, especially among women, be it on or off the streets, or in and around our neighbourhoods, says Meru Cab in a latest service update.

Keeping this need for safety in mind, Meru Cab, a radio cab service provider recently launched the SMS - based ‘Trip Tracker Service' a special safety initiative on ‘Women's Day'. The "Trip Tracker Service" has rapidly gone on to become the most popular service of Meru, following an overwhelming response from commuters, recording over 1 lakh trips across India, in less than 45 days since its launch.

Through this service an appointed person or family member of the commuter travelling, is sent SMS alerts about the passenger's cab location and journey details, thereby ensuring a sense of safety and assurance especially for lady travelers and their loved ones. The company calls it a first of its kind initiative and is an opt-in service and is available free of charge, 24X7 to all Meru customers.

On activating the Cab Tracking facility, SMSs are sent to the alternate number provided by the customer. It includes SMS alert at the beginning of the trip including the customer name, trip start-time and area where the trip began; Regular SMS updates every 15 minutes during the journey with details of the location of the cab. SMS alert sent at the end of the trip with the location where the trip ended.

One can avail of this facility while booking a Meru cab, through the call center or the website wherein an option is made available to the customer to provide a "Tracking Number" to which the SMS's alerts will be sent. This alternate number is stored in the customer's profile and can be activated or deactivated anytime through the call center or website.

Commenting on the response received from commuters towards the "Trip Tracker Service", Siddhartha Pahwa, CEO, Meru Cabs stated, "At Meru Cabs, we believe that being the market leader is not enough. We continue to strive as thought leaders - introducing innovative facilities and travel concepts, keeping the customer's needs at the core of everything we do. This new cab tracking safety initiative strengthens the trust our customers have in our services, and will provide the much needed safety assurance especially to women commuters and their families."

He further stated, "The response we have been receiving from customers in the past few weeks have been overwhelming. Some of the compliments received especially from women passengers have been very touching and motivating."