I travel regularly to Delhi for business but I have experienced Easy Cabs only on my most recent visit last month. I was staying in North Delhi for 8 days and commuting almost daily to Gurgaon and South Delhi. In this period I used Easy Cabs 12-14 times.
Travel is always a huge stress to an outstation visitor in Delhi - I have often had rickshawas refuse to pick me up after a certain time in the night, and had taxis fleece me. Also as work often stretches into late night, as a woman I have had security concerns about taking public transport. The metro has helped HUGELY but it is not always possible to use it for work(for example you still cannot take it to Gurgaon). While my company has always booked cabs in Delhi, the cost of hiring and long travel distances make it a prohibitively expensive option.
In this context, I see Easy Cabs and other tour operators as a god send. An on-call, safe, professional and efficient service with a transparent fare structure(also air-conditioned!) is a great concept and I wish the same takes root in Mumbai also.
I think its worthwhile to explain the business model used by Easy Cabs and other tour operators in Delhi which was explained to me by a driver. The drivers are paying EMIs of approx Rs. 20, 000 per month to the company towards eventual owership of their vehicles. They also have to pay additional amount towards servicing and maintenance which must be done through the company garage. Whatever they earn above this is their income. This concept has both good and bad points.
The good points are that more drivers join the cab operators so availability of cabs is high(compared to call cabs in Mumbai - it is now almost impossible to get a call cab through Meru or Gold even if you book well in advance. I think the Mumbai business model is salary-based and traditional black& yellow cab drivers are reluctant to join up). Secondly, the drivers are willing to work longer shifts to earn more, and have a greater willingness to pick up passengers - even in peak hours, you usually get a cab within 45 minutes of placing a call.
The good points I found about the service were
1) Low wait times on the call centre line - even when the call was queued it was attended within 5 minutes.
2) A highly sophisticated and well implemented caller recognition system. Easy Cabs had logged both my cell number and my hotel number so each time they picked up my call they recognised me by name and knew my hotel address. I saved time by not having to repeat those details. Further, they could access my travel records. For instance, when I called from Gurgaon for a cab to take me back to Delhi, the call centre exec. asked me if I wanted to be picked up from the same Gurgaon address they had dropped me to in the morning. In fact, the first time I called from my hotel, they got the hotel address from the phone number! It’s maybe a small detail but I found it impressive.
2) Very simple fare structure makes it impossible to be cheated by the driver if you are alert. It’s Rs. 15 per KM in day hours and I think 15% more at night(night charge timings are displayed in the cab).
3) 100% punctual arrival record for all the trips I made. I had a bad experience with Mega Cabs in between and I did not use them thereafter.
4) Pick ups are possible even outside public places like malls and restaraunts
The only bad point was that some cabs did not have working meters and two drivers tried to con me by setting the meter to night charge in the day time. The solution is given below -
If the meter is not working, take the speedometer reading at the beginning of the journey and multiply by 15 to arrive at your fare.
On the right of the meter is a column which shows’fare type’. Fare 1 is the regular fare and Fare 2 is the night fare. make sure that the driver has set fare 1 if you are taking the cab in day hours. The meter will automatically switch to Fare 2 when night charges start. So if you take the cab at 11.30 pm, night fare will be chargeable only on the KM after 12 midnight. If you suspect you have been overcharged but the meter is working, it will display the km reading so just multiply that by 15.
An additional point - if you travel to Gurgaon, the passenger has to pay all tolls. Try to take the jaipur expressway route as the toll is only Rs. 17 one-way. The taxi will not stop at the toll at Mehrauli Gurgaon Road as they have a’pass’ but they charge Rs. 50(not sure of the exact figure but it is higher than on the other route and it is not reflected on the meter or mentioned. Ask the call centre about the exact toll on MG road before taking the cab)
Recommended strongly for travellers to Delhi.