Hey Didi is parcel delivery service as well as a transport service for women, by women, and is planning to have additional 5,000 scooters by the end of 2016.

Launched on International Women’s Day 2016 at NSCI in Mumbai, Hey Didi is an initiative by Revathi Roy that provides safe transport service to women outside railway and metro stations. Moreover, it offers instant parcel delivery from online stores, food joints and medical stores through an app. Currently, it has a fleet of 10 scooters in Mumbai and plans to expand upto 5,000 scooters by end of this year. However, Revathi Roy is still waiting for the government to ease out certain regulations.

Revathi Roy, pioneer of Forsche, the first women’s taxi service in the year 2007, a social entrepreneur and the promoter of Hey Didi has trained women on etiquette, riding scooters, self-defense, road history and financial management. Most of the women hired by Hey Didi are poverty-stricken. This initiative is a self-employment platform for women to make them independent and fetch a fair income.

They are associated with Mahindra Finance for sponsoring two-wheelers to women. Presently, Mahindra is offering free scooters to Hey Didi employees in Mumbai.

A similar service for transporting women outside Metro stations was started in Delhi. Soon, this initiative will be taken in Pune, Goa, Gurgaon and Bengaluru. They have already trained around 200 women and 100 more are under training.

Takeaways:

• Hey Didi is a parcel delivery service as well as a transport service for women, by women in Mumbai.
• Currently, it has a fleet of 10 scooters in Mumbai and plans to expand upto 5,000 scooters by end of this year.