Bangalore rickshaws go funky with auto-phones

Bangalore rickshaws go funky with auto-phones
The Times of India

Bangalore: You’re stuck in yet another traffic jam on your way to work. You decide to use the time to catch up with your aunt in Hyderabad or your cousin in Delhi. Or you witness an accident on your way to work and as you try to reach an ambulance, your mobile phone’s signal isn’t clear or you’re low on balance. What do you do? Pick up the auto-phone and dial.
You will soon spot coin phones in autorickshaws in the city. Five autorickshaws installed these on Wednesday. You can make STD calls (to landlines or mobile phones) for Re 1 per 20 seconds and local calls for Re 1 per minute.
The cheery red phones can be installed in the rickshaw for Rs 3,100. The autorickshaw driver gets to keep 40 per cent of the profit, while the telecom company, Tata Teleservices rakes in 60 per cent.
The company’s Karnataka COO Manzoor Ameen said, “Our survey shows that autorickshaws don’t make more that Rs 150 a day. Even if this phones attracts 50 coins a day, it translates to Rs 600 per month and we’re sure they would welcome that.”
When the phone was installed on a trial run on Monday, the driver recorded Rs 20 in just one hour.
When asked if the phone would draw similar response owing to the high penetration of mobile phones, Ameen said, “People who have pre-paid connections and those who want to avoid high bills by making STD calls, would certainly prefer making calls from this phone since it’s economical.”
For the auto driver, it’s an added convenience that he can also receive calls on this phone.