Raghunath R. (40), a senior manager in an IT firm, sits in front of his desktop and ensures that he does justice to his IT job on the weekdays. But come Friday evenings, Raghunath turns into a micro entrepreneur as he logs into Uber and dons the role of a cab driver.
The engineer, who also has an MBA degree and 16 years of work experience, chose to drive a cab this September, as he loves driving. “Both Uber and my employees have no problem with it and it gives me flexibility,” says Mr. Raghunath who has so far completed around 200 trips with Uber.
While earning income is one of the key incentives, he says that driving a cab also gives him a sense of satisfaction. “People say that sometimes cab drivers are not up to the mark. I want to bridge the gap and do my bit by giving them a good cab experience,” he says.
Although his mother had apprehensions initially, he says he has now managed to convince her. While most people in the city crib about driving amidst the traffic, he says that he loves driving in the city and its traffic. “Highway driving is boring. City driving is challenging and since I started driving, I know every nook and corner in the city,” he says.
Seeing steady income in this business, many have given up their lucrative careers and taken to driving full time. Abhilash Vijayan (36) quit his full time job in the pharma sector, where he worked for almost 12 years, to take to driving. “There is no work pressure in this field and there is no timing. There is more flexibility and the pay is similar,” he said. He says he works for six to eight hours on an average every day and has completed around 700 trips so far. He says that his family is happy that he is able to spend more time with them.
Many of these drivers say that they often even tend to inspire their customers to take up driving. Alwyn Pinto (32), who has experience in working with various multi-national companies for over a decade, quit his job with a leading MNC six months ago and took to driving with Ola full time six months ago. “The income is extremely good and better than what MNCs pay. In fact, I earn around Rs. 40,000 per month and do around 12 trips per day,” he says.
Explaining why profiles of cab drivers is changing, Bhavik Rathod, General Manager-Bangalore, Uber says, “Making them micro entrepreneurs and their own bosses, working at a time that’s most suitable to them, and yet earning an income that is much higher than what they would make at a traditional job are what inspires them.”
