This bright `SPOT' can be seen criss-crossing city roads

This bright `SPOT' can be seen criss-crossing city roads

The Hindu

Most of the taxis are driven by owners who accept calls even after 8 p.m.

# SPOT, which started with 18 taxis, now has a fleet of over 240 vehicles
# It receives at least 1,000 calls every day
# Owners of best taxis are paid an incentive of Rs. 5,000

BANGALORE: You see them all over the town and may dismiss them as "one more city taxi company".

There is more to SPOT City Taxi Services Pvt. Ltd. than fare meters and two-way radios. It is a new business model that is constantly growing, according to Managing Director Francis Alphonso. "Unlike other taxi operators, almost all cabs in the SPOT fleet are driven by owners who operate it as an individual business linked by a common system, identity, processes and values," he says.

Mr. Alphonso took over what was a small fleet of taxis in June 2002 and in three years has managed to expand it from 18 to 240 vehicles, answering 1,000 calls from passengers each day. The venture takes the concept of social entrepreneurship seriously. Chances are you will never be more than 10 minutes away from any taxi, thanks to their extensive radio network and three trained fleet managers who look after the logistics.

What Mr. Alphonso does is it to introduce an eager young man or woman to a financial agency, work out the repayment details and then arrange for a car to be bought and fitted. There are enough success stories behind this growing venture. P. Baijunath, who started his career as a security guard and then became a tax driver-owner, is now the owner of two autorickshaws.

"It has changed my life from a rural Bihari to the owner of a cab. I respect my work and I am proud and happy to be standing on my own feet," he says. Baijunath is not alone.

There is S. Kaushik, a postgraduate in sociology who is right now attending a conference overseas.

He decided to own his own wheels instead of a nine-to-five job and though the hours are longer, earns enough. Another example is P. Rajendra, a police constable who left the job to run his own taxi.

"Driving a own taxi has an advantage. He is less likely to decline a fare at 8 p.m. because he is returning the car to its shed. He will want to earn that extra Rs. 100 to pay the instalment on the car," says Mr. Alphonso.

There are incentives for excellence: each month the Best Taxi gets a Rs. 5,000 reward based on several criteria such as how clean the interior of the cab is kept, how polite and neatly turned out the driver is and how readily he responds to calls and so on. The round-the-clock computer-linked radio control room of course helps streamline operations.