Isn’t it remarkable!!

I was waiting to board the radio cab at Mumbai airport which I booked from the booth inside the terminal. The cab arrived within 5 minutes and I asked the driver to head towards Airoli (Navi, Mumbai ). For those who are not familiar with Mumbai, Airoli is approximately 1 hour drive from Mumbai Domestic Airport. Nervous for my job interview at Airoli, I started going through my resume and a list of answers for the potential questions. 

The cab was cruising slowly in the morning Mumbai traffic and I was compelled to ask the driver about our ETA (Expected time of arrival) at Airoli. Driver answered – “about 1.5 hours'. I decided to then relax and try to take a nap during this long journey, which I successfully did in next 5 minutes (due credit to early morning flight which did not give me my normal sleeping hours). Very quickly I was awake by a wireless like message in the car – “Pick up from Andheri in 10 minutes and drop to Worli”. I opened my eyes to discover that there was no wireless in the car and the voice was coming from the driver’s phone through ‘whatsapp’ voice message. I ignored and again went off sleep, but soon was disturbed again by the voice message. This time I was not irritated but was inquisitive to know what this message is about.

I asked the driver about the messages and he replied that he is a part of the radio cab drivers whatsapp group which posts requirements of the passengers known to the drivers. Driver told me that this is how it works –

1. A driver receives query from the customer whom he served in the past and shared his phone number
2. The driver then has to post a voice message to the whatsapp to the group.
3. The interested driver has to reply with “yes” text message to the group.
4. The driver replying first with the “yes” text gets goes ahead to pick-up the passenger.
5. If any driver who commits for the pick-up and doesn’t turn up will be eliminated from the group.
6. If the driver is not able to pick-up the customer due to breakdown or some other problem, then he has to post a picture of the relevant problem e.g. a flat Tyre.
7. Immediately a new cab is assigned so that customer need not wait.

At first I thought, it’s a good idea!, but how effective will it be since whatsapp allows only 100 members in a group. This model is great if there are more members who are posting a lot of customer requirements. In answer the driver told me that there are 15 such groups in which more than 1500 other drivers from across the radio cab companies are member and there are group admins who manage the information flow. Any posting to one group is forwarded immediately to other groups by the group admins. 

Amazed by such use of technology by the drivers, I asked the driver is there an organization or driver’s union which is enabling such a network, in response the driver told me that there is neither an organization or a driver’s union. This all is happening on mutual trust and network which the drivers were able to create. The group admins are also drivers and the responsibility is shared by each member on rotation basis for 7 days. 

Driver proudly told me that nowadays smart phones are available very cheap and the driver needs to just invest on Rs.200 per month Internet pack on their mobile phone connection. He also told me few benefits of this network:

• Idle time of the drivers is reduced since the network is now not limited to the respective radio cab company drivers only.
• Drivers are able to optimize time and minimize cost, since they quickly pick up the passenger in the nearby or destination locations.
• They are able to service the customer much faster than the call center of the radio cab company.

I was awestruck by two things:

• How incredibly the drivers are using this platform to optimize route, reduce idle time, reduce call center cost, and optimize fuel.
• How well are they able to manage such a huge network without any formal leader, union or organization and only on trust?

I personally used this service over next two days 4 times and received the cab on the spot or with maximum 10 minutes waiting time. I never had to create buffer time or keep the cab waiting since the cabs were available in real time through this service. At the same time, when I called up the call center I was told that there are no cabs available in the area. It’s a must try for everyone in Mumbai!

it was always common to witness how Smart phones and internet are bringing revolution to how the corporates and big businesses operates, but it was incredible to experience how even few individuals can create remarkable value for themselves with mobile & internet. If you start looking around, you will find many such revolutions which an individual is able to bring out with mobile, internet and creativity!  

Do share one if you come across such creative use of technology in a small business or daily life.