A computer engineer from Gujarat, Raxit Sheth came up with the idea of a mobile phone application that could provide commuters with the right auto/taxi fare at the click of a button!
A year ago, while returning from a trip to Bangalore, 27-year-old Raxit Sheth from Mumbai irritably started a battle of words with the auto driver taking him home from the airport. What started as an argument soon transcended into a heated spat as an exasperated Raxit refused to pay the driver the fare he demanded.
“It was obvious that he was overcharging me,” says Raxit recalling that night. “And this wasn’t the first time that I faced such a nuisance. Auto drivers keep throwing unjustly high rates at you especially when you are desperate to get somewhere.”
It was this sense of frustration combined with the an altruistic instinct to patronise the city’s million commuters that drove Raxit and his colleague Pradeep Paijwar to develop a novel idea to avoid being duped by auto/taxi wallahs.
A computer engineer from Gujarat, Raxit came up with the idea of a mobile phone application that could provide commuters with the right auto/taxi fare at the click of a button! Soon after, 30-year-old architect Pradeep developed the software in a span of just 24 hours.
“Not everybody is acquainted with the new auto tariffs. The tariff card is not very user-friendly either. So this app offers fare details in less than 5 seconds, in less than 5 key strokes,” informs Raxit. What’s more, the app works on both Java mobiles as well Androids and does not require SMS or GPRS to be activated.
The app can be downloaded from their website
http://www.m4mum.com/ for free. “It has already registered more than 15, 000 users within just two days of its launch. Our other app on bus routes boasts of 1.5 lakh users,” Raxit says proudly.
So what do the inventors gain out of such a public benefit entrepreneurship attempt? “Nothing except an immense sense of satisfaction,” says Raxit matter-of-factly. “We don’t want the common man to be hassled about issues as trivial as an auto fare. In fact, even auto drivers have thanked us for the app.”
While the use of social media has ensured that the app becomes popular soon enough, Raxit and Pradeep have already begun working on another app that the former promises “will change the way people travel in Mumbai.” According to Raxit, the app, which will be launched in four to six weeks, will make travelling in Mumbai enormously cheaper.
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