ET BureauCHENNAI: Telecom entrepreneur C Sivasankaran, a Chennai-born transnational businessman known for building a large empire of diverse businesses, will soon be driving into the crowded app-based taxi aggregation market with the launch of UTOO Cabs.
The national launch of UTOO Cabs, slated for Thursday from Chennai, comes at a time Bengaluru-based Ola and its American competitor Uber in the country are locked in an intense pricing battle, pushing cabs at Rs 6 a km.
However, sources from the taxi industry in the city say Sivasankaran, who will mentor the venture to be headed by former colleague at Aircel KVP Bhaskaran, is floating a differentiated pricing and aggregation model.
UTOO Cabs has been garnering driver entrepreneurs in Chennai, conducting meetings with cabs drivers for the past few weeks now.
Cab drivers in the city attended a meeting on Tuesday at a school in T Nagar, Chennai, to understand how the company will operate its platform. UTOO has tied up with Japanese carmaker Nissan to lease out cars for driver entrepreneurs. The company will also facilitate loans for drivers with a 15% investment on its part and the remainder advanced as loans from the creditor.
Sivasankaran, however, could not be reached for comment.
For Sivasankaran, riding against the wind and venturing into a crowded market with cut-throat competition is not an uncharted territory. He recently got out of the shadow of bankruptcy after a Seychelles bank freed up his assets across the world to pay his creditors. Sivasankaran sold his stake in Aircel to Malaysia's Maxis Group, a deal that is being investigated by the CBI for an alleged coercion by former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran.
The national launch of UTOO Cabs, slated for Thursday from Chennai, comes at a time Bengaluru-based Ola and its American competitor Uber in the country are locked in an intense pricing battle, pushing cabs at Rs 6 a km.
However, sources from the taxi industry in the city say Sivasankaran, who will mentor the venture to be headed by former colleague at Aircel KVP Bhaskaran, is floating a differentiated pricing and aggregation model.
UTOO Cabs has been garnering driver entrepreneurs in Chennai, conducting meetings with cabs drivers for the past few weeks now.
Cab drivers in the city attended a meeting on Tuesday at a school in T Nagar, Chennai, to understand how the company will operate its platform. UTOO has tied up with Japanese carmaker Nissan to lease out cars for driver entrepreneurs. The company will also facilitate loans for drivers with a 15% investment on its part and the remainder advanced as loans from the creditor.
Sivasankaran, however, could not be reached for comment.
For Sivasankaran, riding against the wind and venturing into a crowded market with cut-throat competition is not an uncharted territory. He recently got out of the shadow of bankruptcy after a Seychelles bank freed up his assets across the world to pay his creditors. Sivasankaran sold his stake in Aircel to Malaysia's Maxis Group, a deal that is being investigated by the CBI for an alleged coercion by former telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran.
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