[AshBabu]

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

I remember seeing 'Ladies Special' buses back in Chennai a few years before. Wonder what happened to those. At least 'Ladies only' coaches are still there in the suburban trains.

During peak hours ladies special buses are there in Chennai.

Also there are Ladies special train (whole train) during peak hours in Beach-Tambaram sector.

Not sure what is great in Pink taxis introduced by Meru. I tend to agree views here that it is marketing gimmick. In Chennai there are autos driven by women and heard that consumer prefer it as there are not much haggling over the fare when compared to male counter part (Chennai auto drivers are notoriously known for fleecing the customer)

[tjacob]

I've seen these women only cabs in the Gulf countries but in our country given the unsafe circumstances for women and arrest of the rival Uber's driver on rape charges, at this point, it seems like an opportunistic business move by Meru. The market is surely there but women are used to men driving autos & cabs, it might take time for things to change.

[Dry Ice]

A similar service already exists since quite a few years. http://sakhaconsultingwings.com/hire-a-cab.php

We don't hear much about it as it is not backed by any large corporation :-)

IIRC, it was featured in Satyamev Jayate once.

Disclaimer: no commercial interest

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by bhaskaracs

Personally i think it is a bit of a joke - we can get away by running such campaigns in our country with companies trying to sell fear.

Originally Posted by tjacob

I've seen these women only cabs in the Gulf countries

The model has been running in Kerala for sometime now, and it was not started because of the number of rape case reported. Saw quite a few taxi cars wearing pink when I visited Kerala for the year end holidays.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/stat...cle2592000.ece

I think the whole set of negative comments coming for this initiative is mainly because of the backdrop of all the rape cases reported in the capital. Also, Meru tried to capitalize on the opportunity by projecting these taxi cabs as a proposed solution to the 'Uber case'. Seriously - do they want us to believe that the recruited women drivers, got the cars ready and got them trained by the police in about 20 days?

IMO, lets forget the negative circumstances under which the program has been launched - and welcome the initiative. Who knows, but it might just help if they scale up the numbers to about few hundreds later.

[S_U_N]

I see nothing wrong in Meru capitalizing on the situation. It is business - not a charity.
I agree there is risk of targeted attacks on the pink vehicles.

The "building a safe nation" and government steps are not hampered by Meru in any way.

At the same time, no one is stopping the law makers and enforcers to do their jobs. Peace!

[hemanth.anand]

A similar service has taken wings in Bangalore too.
Its called womencabs. On their website they have shown a white and pink swift with a big "woman on wheels" logo on the bonnet
There is a photo of the car with the drivers too.

http://womencabs.com/

One of my female friends sent this to me. She has however not used it yet.

Has somebody used their service?
What I don't know is whether men are not allowed at all or just that men cannot book this cab

[Divya Sharan]

I saw a WomenCabs cab (pink cab driven by a female driver, primarily meant for female passengers, kids, elderly folk) in a sad state in front of Cognizant, Manyata Tech Park (Bangalore).

I noted down the reg number and shot them a mail and I must say I was pleased to receive a prompt reply.

[cvvikram]

Definately it is an good move by Meru. Hope more such measures are undertaken in the coming future.