Meru Cabs goes the Uber way, introduces cashless travel feature

Meru has announced an all new mobile app for its cab service at an event held in Mumbai, which according to the company aims at revolutionized travelling experience in radio cabs. The new upgrade has been introduced just a few months after the app won the Best Cab app award in 2014 from Tripadvisor.   With renowned international brand Uber making inroads in the Indian market, Meru has decided to gear up and go all mobile with features like one touch booking, tracking your cab, confirmed booking up to seven days in advance and also a Cab wallet powered by Citrus. Some features have been introduced considering safety for women such as customer’s location tracking and sending a safety alert in case of distress.   Meru has also teamed up Citrus Pay to offer the mobile wallet feature that can be used for payment of the trip and also at third-party retailers. Basically, customers need to load money in the wallet, which can be done via debit card, credit card or net banking, and the amount can be used at the click of a button to make payments. Meru and Citrus have also introduced zero-click checkout system that works in tandem with the system integrated with the cab. This means you can simply book a cab, and walkout without have to pay or even flash your mobile as the amount will be directly debited from your Citrus mobile wallet.   Siddhartha Pahwa, CEO, Meru Cabs, said, “We’ve seen increased adoption of smartphones and we understand how a good Cab app makes the travel experience enjoyable. The Meru app gives control and convenience in the hands of the customer.” Talking about competition from Uber, Pahwa said, “Meru has been evolving over the past seven years. I am pleased that Meru has paved way for other such services and even international brands like Uber.”   We tried booking a cab and could do it effortlessly, even without the need to key in the destination. If your GPS is switched on, the app automatically picks up your start location too, which comes handy provided that is your pickup location. The app also tracks live positioning of the cab in real time on a map and shows the estimated time of arrival.   Amrish Rau, managing Director, Citrus Payments Solutions tells us that Citrus plans to expand this zero-click checkout tool to other services too.   Rau further tells us, “We did a test case with drivers. They said that if we just have to press a button and the payment is done, rather than the complex method of keying in pin, numbers,  then that’s the best option for them. So, we hope drivers also take this in a big way.”   “We understand consumer’s need and preference for faster ways to make payments in a secure manner. Citrus Cash fills this requirement effectively with zero-click checkout process and has been designed to provide maximum convenience to users, he adds.