The taxi industry, with a potential of $7 billion to be reached by 2020( as predicted by SoftBank) has started sheltering e-payment besides cab hailing services. While everyone is familiar how Uber and Ola are striving to gain an upper hand in this sector, theres a silent battle brewing between the wallet and payment service providers Paytm (One97 Communication Pvt. Ltd) and Freecharge(owned by Snapdeal) to make the most of the taxi market.
Paytm had already partnered with Uber, as it realized this great potential much before the Freecharge. It’s already been accepted in many auto and taxi. Entering this market, Freecharge will enable cashless payments in at least 100,000 taxis by the end of this year.
Freecharge claims to have on-boarded about 15,000 taxis already to accept cashless payments through quick response codes in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.
“Today’s consumers demand convenience and we are targeting sectors both in online and offline space which will influence the daily payment habit and shift them from cash to digital payments. We have dedicated teams in these three cities who are focused on providing training and helping drivers to register on Freecharge as a merchant,” said Sudeep Tandon, chief business officer at Freecharge.
Since Paytm has already acquired a foothold through Uber, Freecharge is aiming at “unorganized sectors”, which are not yet affiliated to any app!
Cab hailing is one of the major parts of Paytm’s major income source and given its head-start, Freecharge might need work harder to cope up. Paytm has also extended cashless payment facilities to grocery stores, food joints and autos, among other services.
Ola already has its own wallet and Uber is planning to launch its own digital wallet soon in India. Although, the company will continue with existing wallet partners.