A NEW SHARING CAR SERVICE

Eyeing over 30 per cent growth, ride-sharing platform provider Folksvagn will expand its operations in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Bangalore later this year. Using technology, the Gurgaon-based firm FolksVagn offers a community-based system that helps people share rides with others. While the passengers get rides at costs much cheaper than a regular taxi service, the car owner gets a share of the fare. "We ensure that both passengers and car owner are verified using their corporate IDs. Every member has a wallet and after the completion of a trip, the fare is deducted from the passenger and added to the driver's wallet," Folksvagn Founder Sameer Khanna told PTI. The passenger pays as low as Rs 3.5 per km, of which the car owner gets Rs 3, he added. "We have seen good reviews, especially from women passengers. We are growing at 30 per cent month-on-month and are adding about a 100 new users everyday," he said.
Started in November 2012, Folksvagn currently has 12,500 registered members from Delhi-NCR and it aims to increase the base to a minimum of 50,000 people in the next few months.
"In the next few months, we also will expand to other cities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Bangalore, which have a lot of corporates. There is tremendous opportunity that we see in the market as people are looking for a cheaper and safer way of commuting, especially between home and office,"
Asked if the company plans to raise funds, Khanna said the company was looking at at least USD 1 million in the first round.