A ‘Smart Mumbaikar’ boards the start-up wagon, to keep pollution in check

Currently, Smart Mumbaikar make 1 lakh trips a month, which according to him, is a minuscule proportion of the market.

In 2016, Sheth plans to go a step further and launch an app called FharinGo. He feels that the action plan of the much-awaited Start Up India, Stand Up India campaign will help his start-up expand its footprint.

This government campaign will be unveiled on January 16. Start Up India, Stand Up India aims to promote bank financing for start-up ventures and offer incentives to boost entrepreneurship and job creation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said that the initiative is not just about the IT or digital world, but an effort to assist people starting new business ventures, especially those that involve innovation.

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Sheth’s app FharinGo not only will do the same work as the current Whatsapp service, but has also tied up with Paytm to make payments easier. Apart from a Rs 200 per month subscription charge, Smart Mumbaikar has fixed charges: users pay Rs 2.5 per kilometre to the other users who own a car/ bike and are a part of the car pool. The others who share taxis and autos pay the prevailing rates in Mumbai. The app will make the payment of this Rs 2.5 per km charges easier.

“I want to make car, auto, taxi, bike pooling a habit for the entire working class population in Mumbai. This will not only ease the traffic woes of Mumbaikars but will also reduce pollution. It is a win-win for every Mumbaikar, travelling in train, auto, car etc,” says Sheth.

Even in its current form and “without enforcing odd and even rule here in Mumbai , we have reduced 7 to 8 per cent cars of our user base on road in the last one year,” he adds. “On an average by using our service one can save yearly Rs 35,000 to Rs 45,000 or more based on travel distance.”