Mahindra will enhance its current shareholding in Meru from 43.20% to 100%. Pravin Shah will be the CEO of Meru with effect from May 1, 2021.

Mahindra has announced that it has entered into agreements with shareholders of Meru Travel Solutions Private Limited (Meru) to buy their respective stakes in the ride-sharing company.

Mahindra will acquire 44.14% shares from Private Equity investor, True North and others for an amount not exceeding Rs. 76.03 crores. It will acquire 12.66% shares from Mr Neeraj Gupta and Mrs Farhat Gupta for an amount not exceeding Rs. 21.63 crores. With this arrangement, Mahindra will enhance its current shareholding in Meru from 43.20% to 100%.

Meru Cabs is a ride-sharing company founded in 2006. It has a presence in the airport transfer business, operating in the ride-hail segment and providing employee transportation services to corporates in India.

Neeraj Gupta, Founder, CEO and Whole Time Director of Meru and its subsidiary company Meru Mobility Tech Private Limited and Director of two other Meru subsidiaries - V-Link Automotive Services Private Limited and V-Link Fleet Solutions Private Limited, will be stepping down effective close of business hours of April 30, 2021. He will continue as an employee until June 30, 2021.

Pravin Shah, who was President Automotive, Mahindra till March 2017 will be the CEO of Meru and its subsidiary companies, with effect from May 1, 2021.

MakeMyTrip has partnered with Meru to provide sanitized cab services at all major airports across India.

The company claims that stringent hygiene measures have been implemented at all touchpoints. The cabs are ozone sanitized to prevent the spread of virus and bacteria. The cab's exterior is sanitized using Isopropyl Alcohol. The cabs are also equipped with an air-protect barrier sheet between the rider and driver as well as an alcohol based hand sanitizer. Besides this, temperature checks of driver partners will be carried out at designated sanitization hubs at the airports.

MakeMyTrip has integrated the cab booking option into its interface, which enables travelers to book their flight and and airport cab at the same time.

Flipkart has partnered with app-based ride-hailing operator Meru to deliver essentials and groceries to customers. The service has been launched in Bangalore, Delhi-NCR and Hyderabad.

The service will not only enable Flipkart customers to get doorstep delivery of essential items, but it is also said to help provide income opportunities to Meru's driver partners.

Flipkart claims to have setup a sanitized supply chain in order to prevent infections. Dispatch hubs have been installed with 'Ozone Air Purifier'.

All cabs used for the delivery of essential goods will be Ozone sanitized. Meru driver partners have also been asked to sanitize their cabs and maintain high standards of hygiene by using hand sanitisers and face masks. Drivers will also undergo training to better understand Flipkart's delivery processes.

According to a media report, Mahindra is set to acquire a 55% stake in ride-hailing firm Meru Cabs. The company plans to invest Rs. 103.5 crore by a fresh issue of shares in tranches.

It has been reported that subsidiaries like Meru Mobility Tech Private Limited, V-Link Automotive Services Private Limited and V-Link Fleet Solutions Private Limited will now be a part of the Mahindra Group.

As per the agreement, the first tranche of investment is likely to be made by October 2019. Mahindra could also acquire shares from True North - an existing shareholder in Meru, for an amount not exceeding Rs. 98 crore.

Meru Cabs began operations in 2006. It is one of the first ride-hailing services in India and operates in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. The company also provides transport solutions to call centres, banks, airlines among others.

Source: NDTV

The Meru cabs app now has an option which allows customers to offer cashless tips to the drivers.

At the end of every ride, the customer gets a notification to rate the experience with the option to tip the driver. Customers can choose between Rs. 10, Rs. 20 and Rs. 50, however the app selects 'No Tip' as the default option. The selected tip amount is deducted from the customer's mobile wallet linked to the Meru App.

According to Meru, the tip option was added to the app after the company received requests from customers who were willing to tip the driver as a token of appreciation. 

Meru operates in 24 cities across India. The company offers local as well as outstation services and point-to-point as well as hourly rental packages. Meru offers outstation services to 100 cities and over 7,000 destinations.

Mahindra Electric and Meru have announced a collaboration to launch electric vehicles (EV) in Hyderabad. As part of the pilot project, Meru will deploy a fleet of eVerito electric sedans in the city. 

Customers will be able to book the Mahindra eVerito through Meru's mobile app, website or call centre (4422-4422). The cars will also be available at the Meru Zone at the Hyderabad airport. Customers will be charged the same fare as conventional radio cabs.

The company plans to use the learning from this pilot project to introduce EVs in other cities in the future. Over next 4 years, it intends to use EVs as a major part of its fleet. 

The Mahindra eVerito electric sedan was launched in June 2016. The car is powered by a 72V, 3-phase electric motor that produces 40 BHP and 91 Nm of torque. It has a claimed top speed of 86 km/h and a range of 110 km. Recharging the battery to 80% takes 1 hour 45 minutes with a fast charger. Mahindra claims that the running cost of an all-electric eVerito is around Rs. 1.15 per km.

Recently, online taxi aggregator Ola, went the app only way. Now the company claims to have a market-share 80% of the online space by the number of registered vehicles (including autorickshaws). In November 2014, Ola commanded about 60% market-share.This figure includes the share of TaxiForSure as well. Ola acquired TaxiForSure earlier this year.

There is no breakdown of the Ola-TaxiForSure share provided by Ola. The market share data was based on “available or estimated data of registered vehicles on respective platforms”. Meru claims that it had 20,000 registered vehicles across 7 cities. Uber did not to disclose its numbers.

Ola also claims that it does 7,50,000 rides every day and has over 250,000 vehicles. It is adding 1,500 vehicles daily.

Earlier this year, Ola mentioned that TaxiForSure had 24,000 cars on its platform and the total number of vehicles was about 1,50,000. Ola claimed to be doing around 2,00,000 rides every day in January 2015 with a month on month growth rate of 35%. Calculations show that the resulting number for July 2015 would be 15,13,358 - approximately twice as much as Ola is claiming at the moment.

Other calculations reveals that if 2,00,000 cars make up 80%, Meru, which has a 12% market-share, has 30,000 vehicles in the 7 cities that it operates in. Uber, which has a 4% market-share and operates in 18 cities, has 10,000 vehicles.

Source: Medianama

Taxi operator Meru has introduced Eve, a new service for women in Delhi. Eve taxis are hatchbacks painted pink and white and driven by women wearing pink vests.

Meru claims that after the unfortunate incident last month, in which, a lady passenger was allegedly raped by the driver of a Uber cab, it has been receiving calls from passengers asking for female drivers. Eve taxis have been introduced keeping in mind the safety of women and come equipped with pepper sprays and panic buttons. Additionally, their drivers have been given defence training by the Delhi police, to protect themselves and their passengers. The service has around twenty vehicles plying at the moment.

Ladies can book a Meru Eve cab through the Meru smartphone app, which can be downloaded here, or by dialing 4422 4422.

Meru may introduce Eve cabs in other cities across the country over the coming months.

Source: WSJ

Radio taxi operator, Meru has launched a new mobile app which features like one touch booking, tracking, confirm booking up to 7 days in advance and Cab Wallet.

The mobile wallet feature in the Meru Cabs app in partnership with Citrus Pay can be used for payment of the trip. It can also be used at select outlets of third party retailers. Customers register and load money into the app via credit card, debit card or through net banking. Meru and Citrus Pay claim that Cab Wallet is a fast and secure way of making payments.

Meru claims that the mobile app provides the smoothest and most convenient mode to find, select and track your nearest Meru cab. Customers need not even enter the pickup location, if they are booking from the location, as it is automatically picked up by GPS. Live positioning of cabs can be tracked on the map in real time even before booking. Customers can also track their cab’s estimated time of arrival based on its GPS.

The app also has a unique 'Trip Tracker' service to ensure safety of customers, especially women. The application offers features such as tracking the customer's location and sending an alert in case of distress.

Customers are kept updated on their journey details. The app provides the details of the cab as soon as the booking is done along with the option of calling the driver with a call button.