Book an Auto Ride with Rixi

Uber has recently entered the Pakistani market. But the territory is not without competition. Rixi is a small startup started by founder Adnan Khawaja using which people can book an auto ride. And surprise, surprise! Rixi doesn’t use smart phones. Instead it relies on older phones and uses SMS service to book autos.

What’s the Need?

In Lahore, people still use auto rickshaws more than cabs. Such is the socio-economic state for the large part of its population. Plus, autos are easy to navigate in the narrow, crowded streets of Lahore. Also, only 21 percent of its population uses data packs on their smart phones meaning that most of the people are still using basic phones for sending and receiving messages. That is why, founder Adnan Khawaja decided to use older phones as a means of booking autos with Rixi.

How It Works?

Rixi uses cell phone towers to know the locations of auto drivers. They then match these locations with the passengers’ messaged locations. Based on this, they send nearest auto to pick up the fare.

If you come to think of it, Rixi’s business model does make a lot of sense. The research reports indicate that a large portion of population in such countries is not that inclined on booking cabs due to their economic conditions. In such a scenario, auto ride is a win-win option for the customers as well as for the service providers.

As of now, more than 1 Lac autos are registered with Rixi and the business is booming with an average of 100 rides per day.

Takeaways:-

• Rixi is a Pakistani startup and a serious competitor of Uber in Lahore.
• It uses old cell phones and SMS service to book rides.
• More than 1 Lac autos are already registered with Rixi.
• On an average, 100 rides are booked everyday in Lahore.