Namma Yatri to charge subscription fee from autorickshaw drivers

Ride-hailing app Namma Yatri, built and launched by Bengaluru-based technology startup Juspay Technologies, which focuses on the financial services sector, will start charging a subscription fee from autorickshaw drivers from September 1.

Drivers will have two options—they can either pay Rs 25 for an unlimited number of trips per day or pay Rs 3.50 per ride (with no charges after 10 rides), the company said in a statement.

Over 35,000 drivers have opted for these plans and 7,500 have completed the subscription process organically within a week of launch, said a report by MoneyControl.

"If there is only the Namma Yatri App, that will be plenty for us because we get to deal with customers directly and receive payment without any commissions, making both customers and drivers happy," Auto driver Prassana stated.

As part of an introductory offer, Namma Yatri has also launched a scheme enabling drivers to pay just Re 1 per ride throughout September.

Developed by Juspay , according to standards defined by the Open Network For Digital Commerce (ONDC), the Namma Yatri app was launched in November in partnership with the Beckn Foundation, a Nandan Nilekani-backed non-profit organisation that develops open protocol specifications for mobility and ecommerce platforms.

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It operates as an open platform with a community that includes over 89,000 drivers and serves over 17 lakh customers, with nearly 90 daily trips and over 79 lakh trips logged over a recent nine-month period.

Namma Yatri incurs costs on engineering, R&D, marketing, and even the maps used in the app, as Google Maps is free to use for individuals but not for businesses. It plans to eventually move to open applications to reduce costs.

Autorickshaw Drivers Union (ARDU) is planning to launch MetroMitra as a seller app on ONDC exclusively for Namma Metro users in Bengaluru. It will be available from and to all the metro stations in the city. In addition, it plans to deploy QR codes at prominent landmarks near metro stations, which passengers can scan for autos to the nearest station without requiring a separate app.

(This story was updated to correct a factual error.)