Submitted to: Submitted by:
Arpita Agnihotri Ma’am Suraj Gupta- 11BSPHH010870
IBS Hyderabad Vikas Choudhary- 11BSPHH010950
Giriraj Maloo- 11BSPHH010307

INDUSTRY BACKGROUND

Taxi cabs are small cars or vehicles hired for a small group of passengers on non-sharing basis. The journey of taxi cabs in India began somewhere in 1910s as a replacement of horse wagons. The first taxis were the traditional Ambassador and Premier Padmini painted black and yellow to serve the Indians for daily commuting. These were metered taxis that gradually had spread over to various cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and other major cities of the country.

The business started sprouting results and thus it expanded the footprints in almost all the cities with a further addition of Fiat taxis. The taxi services or car rentals are available for all categories of people, be it middle class, company’s employees, high income groups or families. The service providers ensure that traffic chaos are handled and up to the expectations of the consumers.

Gradually, with the changing generation and advancing technology, people have started desiring for enhanced comfort, luxury and service due to the high generated income and overall economic growth. This has shifted the trend from normal black and yellow taxis to other luxury cars including Tata Indigo, Tata Indica, Toyota Corolla, Mahindra Renault Logan, and many more, eventually giving an end to the ubiquitous black-and-yellow taxis. These luxurious and high-end taxis or cabs are seen only in metropolises in India whereas in some cities like Kolkata, traditional Ambassador is still used as taxis. Big corporate and multinational companies are also hiring taxis for the daily commuting of their esteem employees.

The taxi business in India has shown a rapid growth in the past few years and has reached an estimate of Rs. 9,000 crore. The number of taxis plying on Indian roads is approximately 2, 35,000. The business along with the industry has become much more organised, efficient and rewarding with many new car rental services popping up in the industry. The main reason of the industry racing towards prosperity is the easy availability of resources, technology, credibility and skill sets; something that every industry across the globe is focusing on.

The Indian Government also plays a vital role in the growth of the taxi business. Strict rules to have fare-meter are imposed on the service providers. Fortunately, the new cab rental service providers are following the imposed rules.

SOME OF THE LATEST AND THE BEST TAXI SERVICES IN INDIA ARE DESCRIBED BELOW:

V-Link Taxis Private Limited: This service provider operates a fleet of GPS enabled luxury cars under the brand name of ‘Meru’. The name is taken from ‘Mount Meru’, meaning center of the universe. This term is taken from the mythological belief rooted in Indian heritage. The name also defines the abode of Lord Brahma and a pantheon of gods and goddesses. The mythology accepted by the Meru cabs has made them the most unshakable and reliable source in the industry. Currently, Meru Cabs are running successfully in major cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The company is expected to expand its operation in other cities and be one of the leading company offering car rentals and cab services.

Classic Cabs Pvt. Ltd: It is a well organised and reputed taxi services provider in Bangalore. The services are offered for airport transfers, sight-seeing, corporate executives, weddings, and social events.

Wings Radio Cab: It is one of the leading and trusted names in the travel business. The company offers competitive car rental services in Pune. The company offers a fleet of cars ranging from luxury to budget cabs. The cabs contain proper permits and documentation for hassle free commuting for the customer.

Forsche: This is the women’s only cab services available currently in Mumbai and Bangalore. The cabs here are offered for the women and by the women. This means that the chauffeurs driving the cabs are also well trained females for better safety of the female commuters. This company offers silver white colour taxis with a purple pink logo. Even the car interior is designed with a feminine touch.
COMPANY BACKGROUND
HOW IT STARTED?
The MD of Meru Cabs, Mr Neeraj Gupta, sensed an opportunity in running a fleet of air-conditioned, GPS-linked, electronic metered taxis in Mumbai when the Maharashtra government invited tenders for such a service for 10,000 cabs, replacing the old black-and-yellow taxis in 2006.
His confidence stemmed from running taxi services for BPOs and corporate clients. He was certain such a service would be an instant hit in India if a service provider could cash in on urban Indians' aspirations.
So he took the plunge, but money was a problem. To attract private equity investment, Gupta corporatized his operations by creating a holding structure. A holding company, V-Link Travel Solutions, was floated to own two wholly-owned arms, V-Link Fleet Solutions which was running the pick-up services for BPOs and V-Link Taxis, the new firm launched to run air-conditioned taxis in Mumbai.
India Value Fund invested Rs 50 crore in the parent company in December 2006 to help finance Mr Gupta's foray in the air-conditioned taxi market. The fund promised to pay another Rs 160 crore when required. Further, it enlisted the services of Accenture, KPMG and E&Y to prepare the accounts and audit. Three India Value Fund representatives and Gupta make up the company's board. Gupta says his association with the PE investor has been his best bet yet, as without it, it would have been impossible to get marquee consultants on board.

INTRODUCTION
Meru Cabs is one of the first companies to launch metered "Radio cabs" in India under its brand "Meru." First launched in Mumbai in April 2004, Meru Cabs has grown exponentially in terms of fleet size and geographical presence. Customers benefit from a relaxed commute in a well equipped, air-conditioned cab, which is readily available 24/7. The printed receipt at the end of the ride assures the customer of tamper proof billing.
Headquartered in Mumbai, Meru Cab Company provides a radio taxi service in the four key metros of India - Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. Meru Cabs delivers a reliable taxi service by concentrating on each touch point with its customers and devising systems, processes or technologies that will deliver a reliable interface. Meru Cabs uses GPS/GPRS enabled technology in all of the cabs to ensure complete passenger safety. Each Meru cab is owned & maintained by Meru Cab Company Private Limited.
The name "Meru" is derived from the symbolic mountain of the gods, an icon of unshakeable reliability and character - a core value which lies at the heart of Meru's promise to its customers.

POLICIES & PROCEDURES
SOME OF THE POLICIES ARE: * All the cars are owned by Meru. * The cab drivers are not employees but “subscribers”. * Each driver is required to pay Rs 1200 per day to Meru. * The car is in drivers’ possession and he decides when to drive the car. * Each car has a GPS device. When the driver is ready to take a passenger, he has to switch on a button to mark his availability. * Meru has a call centre which algorithmically assigns one of the free cabs to prospective customers. * The algorithm takes into consideration the closeness of cab to passenger and also the amount that a driver has earned in that day, to ensure a fair distribution. * Meru also ensures drivers of at least 4 to 5 trips a day. * The maintenance of cars, cost of the petrol is borne by the driver. * To become a driver in Meru, you have to apply. They will run you through medical test and background checks. Once satisfied they will assign you the car. * The driver has the freedom to drive the car 12 hours a day or even 18 hours a day. This is good from the drivers’ point of view because he decides when to go to work. He can spend time with his family in the time of dire needs like medical emergency. Drivers mark their availability and they have to take the passenger assigned to them no matter how short the distance is. * Meru has money collection centres all over the city, where drivers can deposit money at any time of the day. * Meru purchases cars in bulk and are known to have had striked great discounts. * The cab drivers are their own employers and they have the freedom on the time of work. The cab driver has been transformed from a petty employee whose work is to drive a car to any part of India to a self-employer who can earn by innovating and can lead a better life with his family. * Meru Plus offers a great business opportunity with attractive returns on investment. It is a fair & transparent system that combines best features of car rental services and taxi services. * Buy a car, or use your existing car * Enrol it under the Meru Plus service * Meru Plus will provide bookings and duties * Provide service to Meru Plus customers and collect your charges

* Meru Cabs has a policy of not taking bookings more than 24 hours in advance. There is a 'Convenience Charge' for booking a Meru if you book through their call centre by dialling 44224422. This convenience charge is currently applicable in Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore only. But, if you book a cab through the website, No Convenience charge will be applicable.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
The radio taxi industry is at its peak and is growing. Along with it, competition is also becoming fierce, however a clear winner in Meru cabs at present .From zero to 5,600 radio taxis in under five years, with a presence in four metros to boot, has helped Meru Cabs become the largest such service in the country. With Rs 300 crore in revenue, Meru has raced ahead of nearest competitors like Easy Cabs and Sky Cabs, with the company even claiming that it is the third largest radio taxi operator in the world. Other than Easy cabs and Mega Cabs come next in terms of Market share after Meru Cabs, there are many other cabs like Orange cabs, Apple cabs, Dot cabs to name a few .However these are far behind the major competitors that is Easy cabs and Mega Cabs. New models of radio cabs that are running only through online subscription have also entered this market.

EASY CABS
1)EASY CABS-Started with 29 cars, and 20 employees in three cities, Carzonrent now has 5,200 cars, 460 employees, 29 offices in 13 cities and a turnover of over Rs 216 crore.
With a seed capital of Rs 29 lakh, Mr Vij started his business from small rented premises in Delhi, Bombay and Pune in 2000. The first lot of 29 cars was purchased from Rs 1.5-crore, largely borrowed from HDFC and ICICI bank.

When Carzonrent started operations in 2000, there were large corporate groups such as ITC, ILFS (A Japanese car-leasing company) and Oberoi that looked at the business as one of their several other businesses. This differentiated the company from the others and helped it gain clout in the market.

The company's first real test came when it was just a year into operation. The 9/11 incident happened only a week after Carzonrent tied up with US-based Hertz, the world's largest car rental company, as their exclusive license holder in India. This hit the business hard. "The event ensured dwindling tourist and official inflow from the US to India. They had expected US tourists and officials visiting India to help our business to a large extent, not deterred by this, the company changed its strategy and turned its attention to domestic demand from corporates and individual customers.
In 2005, the company saw Rs 6 crore being pumped in by two venture funds—Avenecus Advisors and SIDBI Ventures—which was utilised in devising and implementing a robust technological and physical platform in all the company's offices in India.The very next year, American private equity fund Sikoya Capital invested $6 million into Carzonrent. Today, these three investors have a combined stake of 30%. "hey implemented an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software throughout the company. Today, they have separate IT and R&D teams..
In 2007, Carzonrent started its radio cabs business, EasyCabs. With operations in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad and a fleet of 2,100 cars, the Easycabs is the country's second-largest radio cab brand in three years.
Carzonrent now does business in six categories—chauffer-driven cars, self-driven cars, limousine service, operating lease service and EasyCabs, the company's radio cab brand. It services more than 110 big corporates, including IBM, HP, Oracle, LG, Wal-Mart, Thomas Cook and Nokia Siemens.

They have ensured that the cars are clean, the drivers are well-behaved and passengers are charged as per the meter and this strategy seems to be working well. Independent industry observers are also gung ho about the rise of Carzonrent. "
The company plans to stick to the car-rental business and will build a globally-reputed brand, along with a fleet of 30,000 cars and annual revenue of Rs 1,000 crore in the next 5 years.

Services offered by Easy Cabs
• Airport Transfer
• Chauffeur Drive
• Self Drive
• Limousine
• Operating Lease
• Driving Holidays
The Chauffer –Terms and conditions * Driver has to pay 50000 refundable deposit. * No Medical Test. Just screening and background check * The car's RC book will be in Driver's name. * He enters into an agreement with Easy Cabs for a 4 year term contract * After a period of 4yrs the gets to own the car. * Driver needs to pay 800 Rs Daily to Easy Cabs. * Whatever the Driver earns out of Taxi meter charges belong to him * If the Driver can EARN 2000 Rs as daily revenue, then Rs2000-Rs 800 is HIS PROFIT/TAKE HOME for the day. * All Oil service, maintenance costs BORNE BY DRIVER. (There are no Scheduled leaves for the Driver. * If the driver quits or dies within the 4 years - the 50K deposit is Lost and car goes back TO EasyCabs

MEGA CAB Mega Cabs is amongst the oldest Radio Taxi services in India. It was started in Delhi with a modest fleet of just 81 taxis in 2001. With its highly convenient hassle-free taxi service, well supported by state-of-the-art infrastructure and technology, Mega Cabs became very successful in a few years time. After Delhi, Mega Cabs launched its services in Chandigarh, Mumbai, Mohali, Ludhiana, Kolkata and Amritsar, and has now become the largest network of Radio Taxi services in India. Mega Cabs will soon start its fleet of taxis in Ahemdabad, Jaipur and Lucknow.

ONLINE CAB BOOKING STARTUPS
These are essentially aggregators with an asset-light business model where they don’t own the cars (unlike the older cab brands who have their own fleets although some follow a hybrid model, a mix of own cars and aggregation) but focus on the technology and backend to link cabbies with customers. Examples- Ola cabs, Savaari, Taxi For Sure, Taxi GUIDE, Your Cabs

DOT CABS | Dot Cabs India Pvt Ltd Service operates its fleet of modern, air-conditioned, GPS-enabled radio cabs under the Dot Cab brand.
Dot cabs Services have today become a symbol of the company's promise of total commitment, reliability and trust to honour our customer faith in impeccable service. We thank each one our esteemed clients for their trust in us.
It is this promise that drives the organization to provide customers with the best and most efficient services possible and pushes Dot cabs to set the highest standards of quality in the cabs as well as trained chauffer's we hire. All this is done keeping in mind the safety of the vehicle and the guests as well as the efficiency and courtesy of the driver. |

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strength –

* Backed by strong technical support and infrastructure as compared to other cabs like GPRs in all cabs * Reliability and Safety-due to maintaining service standards and being before time each and every time the render a service. * Well trained staff in English and Hindi, polite and professional drivers. * Every company feels that they are paying the best to their employees and every employee feels that he is underpaid. However in case of MERU, the employee pays the company and both are happy. This helps to provide better customer service * Has a tie up with the airports of major cities which ensures brand visibility and improves sales. * Wide spread, larger number of fleet and greater expansion. * They are offering value added services to its loyal customers

Opportunities - * Increasing road congestion means it will be more convenient to take a cab, rather than drive and struggle for parking space etc. * Also, an increase in the number of multinational companies across metros, will increase the amount of executive travel. Further, such corporations are bulk buyers, which will assure 'Mega Cabs' of a committed number of cabs for their captive use. * Various companies are also taking interest in advertising on Radio Cabs, which is considered an effective medium to reach the masses. This will certainly benefit the Radio Cab industry. * Time is money in the business world. And for those who travel a lot on business or pleasure, it's never a good idea to be stuck at an airport terminal for hours or days, and can be a major drain on time and resources. Now, there is a quick and easy option. Customers can avail the services of our air charter services. After all, we have point to point air and ground transportation, no airline check-in lines, and no parking problems.

Threats

* Frequent changes in policies by regulatory authorities come as a hurdle for the Radio Cab industry. So the Government must promote Radio Taxis and thus help in the growth of this convenient and reliable mode of transportation. Government support is necessary if the Radio Taxi industry is to grow at an incredible rate. Facilities like hailing locations, and spots at airports, railway stations and bus stands should be provided to Radio Taxis for the business to flourish. * Since a large number of radio cab companies have come into the business, competitive pressures from existing and new players in the market. * Also, a big challenge for the Radio Taxi business is the lack of awareness amongst the masses. * Another threat is the lack of well educated and trained drivers and staff. Finding such experienced people is a challenge that every Radio Cab service faces. There aren't enough training academies for drivers, due to which they cannot be expected to be at their best behavior with customers. Weakness * Higher prices than its key competitors that is Easy cabs and Sky Cabs. * At times customers face unavailability of cabs.

ANALYSIS

Meru cabs are pioneer in the GPS/ GPRS technology. It uses various technologies like GPS/ GPRS, Debit/ Credit card billing, printed bill receipt etc and has an edge over the competitors. The following table clearly explains this Cab Service | GPS/ GPRS | Debit/ credit card payment | Printed bill system | Meru Cabs | √ | √ | √ | Easy Cabs | √ | | | Dot Cabs | | | √ | Radio Cabs | | √ | |

As evident from above, Meru cabs has an edge over its competitors in terms of the technology they use and the technological benefits they provide. The other factors like fares and availability are although similar.
Service companies face three major marketing tasks. They want to increase their service differentiation, service quality, and service productivity.
Service Differentiation: In these days of intense price competition, service marketers often complain about the difficulty of differentiating their services from those of competitors. The customers view the services of different providers as similar; they care less about the provider than the price. The solution is to develop a differentiated offer, delivery and image. In the cab services industry the delivery and image could not be differentiated and hence Meru cabs differentiated in terms of offer. Meru differentiated in terms of technology, an area which is less explored in our country in the cab services. Meru provides round the clock availability backed by a location tracking GPS- based dispatch technology, tamper proof digital can meters integrated with the GPS system ensuring every fare is tracked, a printed receipt for every fare, ability to track location of the cab using GPS and security in case of emergency.
Service Quality: Meru cabs have rightly identified what its target customers want in terms of service quality.

TEAM
The Meru cabs team comprises of the following entities: * Call centre
The call centre is responsible for servicing request by the customers. Meru cabs gives its customers the option of either booking the cab within 30 minutes or for further advanced bookings. The call centre takes down these requests. * Customer Relationship team
They deal with servicing customer complaints. In case of any complaints made regarding abusive behaviour, improper uniform, drinking and driving, etc. the complaint is noted down against the driver. The driver is called the next day to the office and has a hearing. If found guilty, his car is taken away, which is called “enforcement”.
Also, in case of an accident, if a customer dies, his family is given Rs. 10 lakhs as compensation. * Driver relationship team
They focus mainly on driver grievances. Meru drivers are not employees but “subscribers” to the company. This team focuses on guiding drivers to meet their daily targets. If the drivers have any other problems, it’s handled here. * IT team
This department focuses on all the IT related issues which basically gives Meru the edge over other cab services in the industry. The role of this team is discussed in detail in later part of the project. * Recruitment and Training team
The driver recruitment process begins with validating the Driver’s license and address proof. The drivers are required to deposit Rs.10, 000 with Meru as security. They undergo a 5 day training period in which they are told the meaning, history of cabs. They undergo a medical test followed by a driving test. They are taught how to deal with customers. The training focuses on aspects like attitude, punctuality, appearance, diligence, cooperation, accuracy. The basic flow is as follows:
Call to confirm pickup receive customer Drop at location Bill
Only Meru cab services accept Debit/Credit card payments in this industry. This sets them apart from other players in the market. * Accounting
They deal with the regular payments received from the drivers. They also deal with reimbursement to the drivers if any. * Maintenance team
This department is responsible for servicing the cars on a regular basis. In case of any accidents, this department deals with the claims made. A part of the expense is paid by the insurance company. The remaining amount is split equally between the driver and the company.
Tie – ups
Meru cabs have a tie-up with the Shamshabad airport. They have a 4 year contract which they got by filling a tender. Under the agreement, they are the only cab service providers in the airport along with Sky cabs. They have to pay 4 crores over a period of 4 years according to the agreement. They also pay Rs.142 to the airport authorities per pick up. These extra charges are paid by the drivers which are later reimbursed to them.
They also have tie-ups with corporates. A few of them are: Air India, United Nation Organisation (UNO), software companies.
Currently they don’t have any tie-ups with railways or malls. Doing this might boost their revenues.

MERU SERVICE CHANNEL:
Car supplier Meru office Driver customer

The service provided by Meru Cabs follow the above mentioned channel. The cabs are procured from the Car supplier. Then the cars are registered with the Meru Cabs office and the necessary equipment is installed. Then the cars are given to the drivers on rent, who then use it to provide the final service to the customers.

The service model for Meru Cabs is given below, and it can be explained in the following steps. * The cars given to the cab drivers are provided on rent. The driver has to pay a daily rent of Rs. 1200. These cars are procured from the car company itself. * Every car has an inbuilt GPS navigation system, which runs on GPRS, and it helps to track the location of the cabs at all times. * When a customer calls on the Meru Cabs helpline, the customer care executive feeds the required information into the system, which includes details like the pick-up point, the drop point, the pick-up time, and the contact details of the customer. * After the information is fed into the system, the system searches for all available cabs within a 5KM radius of the pick-up point, which are shown as different colour dots on the system map. * Red dot – The cab driver is not logged in into the system * Yellow dot – The cab driver is idle and waiting for a lead * Green dot – The cab is registered with a customer, and is currently in use. * After being intimated, the cab drivers bid on services the particular customer. The bidding process takes place in the following manner. * Out of the cabs with yellow dots, the cab with the longest waiting time gets the lead. This is done to ensure equitable distribution of leads. * If the longest wait time for 2 or more cabs is the same, then the leads are given to the cab with either lower business on that particular day, or the shorter distance to the pick up point.

The following are the rules to be followed by the cab drivers: * Every driver is supposed to pay a rent of Rs. 1200 per day along with fuel charges. The driver also gets an option of credit for 3-4 days. The additional revenue is retained with the driver. * The driver is required to log in for a minimum of 12 hours in a day. * In case of any accidental damage to the car, the additional expenditure after the insurance claim is met, is split between the cab driver and the company in a ratio of 1:1.

The service is provided in three types: * Airport pick up. * Call centres. * Personal service.

CONCLUSION
From this study it is clearly understood that companies which have strong POD’s are more preferred in the service industry and POD for Meru is its usage of technology. Since Meru is in the service industry, one of the major characteristics in service industry is service Intangibility and Meru was successful in making its service tangible with an appropriate use of technology in the form of GPS / GPRS. The transparency in billing by providing the bills is a form of evidence management. The other characteristic of the service industry given due consideration by Meru was the service Variability which is standardized by providing well trained chauffeurs who are adept in navigating through the cities, safe driving and good communication skills. Over the years Meru has created a brand image which is synonymous with trust, transparency and safety which is clearly depicted in its tagline “Rely On Us.”
ON-SITE REPORT

OBJECTIVE:
To find out the features of the Meru cab service which makes the consumers to prefer this brand. Also to derive the brand awareness and customer satisfaction of Meru Cabs.

RESEARCH PROCESS:
Stage I
Exploratory research:
Focus group interview was conducted to determine the variables that effect the dependent variable (customer satisfaction). Details of the FGD (FGD Report) are enclosed as annexure I.

Stage II
Survey:
* Questionnaire
A questionnaire of 17 questions (14 independent + 3 dependent) was designed based on the variables derived from the FGD. One question to calculate the brand awareness of Meru cabs and its competitors is also included separately. One pilot question to arrive at the questions is also included. Questionnaire enclosed as annexure 2.

* Scale
Unforced Likert scale ranging from 1(Strongly Agree) - 5(Strongly Disagree) is used. * Sample
Simple random sampling technique was used and initially survey was conducted on a sample of 40 respondents for the Pretest of the questionnaire.
Further the actual survey was conducted on 100 respondents.

Stage III
Pretest:
Cronbach's Alpha | N of Items | .764 | 14 |
Pretest of the questionnaire was conducted on a sample of 40 respondents to determine the consistency and reliability of the questionnaire.
The cronbachs α was 0.764 for the 14 independent variables suggesting that the items have relatively high internal consistency and KMO was 0.563 which shows sample adequacy. The correlation matrix showed good correlation between the items and no negative correlation. This indicated that the questionnaire is accurate and no changes were required and hence we continued with the same questionnaire for the actual survey.

STAGE IV
MAIN SURVEY * DATA COLLECTION
Survey was conducted on a sample of 100 respondents chosen through simple random sampling. * CODING
All the responses are coded in an excel sheet using the likert scale codes mentioned in the scale.

STAGE V
DATA ANALYSIS
SPSS 13.0 was used for the interpretation of the data. The following results were derived and interpreted:

* Cronbach’s α : Cronbach's Alpha | N of Items | .771 | 14 |

The alpha coefficient for the 14 items is .771, suggesting that the items have relatively high internal consistency.

* KMO and Bartlett’s Test: Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. | .730 | Bartlett's Test of Sphericity | Approx. Chi-Square | 344.494 | | df | 91 | | Sig. | .000 |

The KMO measure for the 100 respondents was 0.730 which indicates the adequacy of the sample for the survey. The Bartlett’s test of Sphericity is also significant. * Communality Values :
All the communality values are above 0.5. * Rotated Component matrix:
All the items are loaded into five factors. Table enclosed as annexure III. * Factor I
The items included in the Factor I are 3,4,5,6,7. On analysis from the questionnaire the items are related to the safety and technological aspects of the service.
Item 3 – safe to travel and
Item 4- safe driving by the drivers indicates the safety factor.
Item 5 – GPS/ GPRS technology
Item 6 – Printed bill system
Item 7- Debit/credit card payment system indicates the technology factor.
Since both the factors have been loaded together they are loaded as TECHNOLOGY AND SAFETY. The cronbach’s α for the five items in the factor is 0.765, which shows high consistency within the items. Meru cabs uses GPS/ GPRS enabled technology in all the cabs to ensure complete passenger safety. It is rightly justified that safety and technology are together. Technology is a crucial factor of the macro environment forces that shape the opportunities to the company. New technologies create new markets and opportunities. Meru cabs has the most advanced technology in the cab services and hence been a market leader. * Factor II
The items included in factor II are 8,9 and 12.
Item 8 – timely and professional service
Item 9 – reliable in case of emergency
Item 12 – customer care response
All the above items are related to the efficiency of services and hence labeled as EFFICIENCY. The cronbach’s α for the three items is 0.597 which show they are consistent. * Factor III
The items included in factor III are 1 and 2.
Item 1 – fares
Item 2 – waiting costs and night time fares.
The above items are labeled as FARES.
The Correlation of both the items is 0.533 which indicates they are highly correlated. * Factor IV
The items loaded in factor IV are 10 and 11.
Item 10 – service at any time
Item 11 – service at any place.
The above items are labeled as AVAILABILITY as they indicate the availability of services. The correlation between the items is 0.447. * Factor V
The items loaded in factor V include 13 and 14.
Item 13 – Speed of customer Service
Item 14 – Brand Name
The above items are labeled as BRAND IMAGE.
The correlation between the items is 0.349.

In the services industry especially the services with goods on the service continuum there is less room for error because of high competition and product similarity. Factors like efficiency, fares and availability have to be highly competitive and reasonable to influence the target customers and capture their loyalty.

Annexure: 1. FGD Report. 2. Questionnaire. 3. Rotated Component Matrix Table

Annexure I

FGD REPORT

Objective: To derive the factors that influences the consumer’s decision while choosing a cab service.

Duration: 13.06 min

No. of Male/ Female: Male: 4 Female: 3

Minutes:

The FGD was conducted on 18 September. The respondents were randomly selected MBA students. The objective was to find out the various factors that influence the consumer’s decision while choosing a cab service. The various factors observed during the FGD are given below. The FGD was driven by various questions such as the occasion when they use cab service, what influences the decision while choosing a cab, what factors they look into while booking a cab service.

Factors Observed:

The respondents gave their views on various factors during the discussion. The cab service is not more frequently preferred by all the respondents. Occasions such as late nights or while travelling with luggage or time constraints makes them prefer the cab service. While choosing the cab service majority of the respondents opined that they prefer timely, efficient and quality of service rather than the price. Fares are also a constraint for some of the respondents. The quality of service provided in terms of technology also influenced their decision. The brand name has no significant importance but the services associated with the brands made them prefer some specific brands like meru, etc. Safety is also a concern for some female respondents especially during the nights and hence they prefer a branded service.
Annexure II

Which of the following cab services are you aware of?
Radio cabs
Easy cabs
Meru Cabs
Dot Cabs
Others (Please specify) ________________

Have you ever availed the services of Meru Cabs? Yes No

If yes, please fill in the following questionnaire about your experience on the services of Meru Cabs Sl No | Description | Strongly agree | Agree | Neutral | Disagree | Strongly Disagree | 1 | The fares are reasonable | | | | | | 2 | The waiting costs and night time fares are reasonable | | | | | | 3 | It is safe to travel in meru cabs | | | | | | 4 | Drivers drive safely and carefully | | | | | | 5 | GPS/GPRS Technology used by meru cabs gives an edge over other cab service providers. | | | | | | 6 | The printed bill system makes the payment system transparent | | | | | | 7 | The debit/ credit card payment system is convenient to the passengers | | | | | | 8 | The service is timely and professional | | | | | | 9 | Meru cabs are reliable in case of any emergency | | | | | | 10 | The service is available at any time | | | | | | 11 | The service is available to any place in the city. | | | | | | 12 | The customer care executives respond immediately to the queries | | | | | | 13 | The waiting time for the customer care service is not more than 10 sec. | | | | | | 14 | I prefer meru cab because of its brand name | | | | | | 15 | I always prefer selecting meru cabs | | | | | | 16 | I will recommend meru cabs to my friends and family | | | | | | 17 | Rate your overall satisfaction on the services provide on a scale of 1 – 100 | |

Annexure III

Rotated Component Matrix

| Component | | Safety & Technology | Efficiency | Fares | Availability | Brand Image | I1 | | | .861 | | | I2 | | | .851 | | | I3 | .699 | | | | | I4 | .804 | | | | | I5 | .689 | | | | | I6 | .668 | | | | | I7 | .594 | | | | | I8 | | .771 | | | | I9 | | .680 | | | | I10 | | | | .862 | | I11 | | | | .742 | | I12 | | .643 | | | | I13 | | | | | .661 | I14 | | | | | .843 |

REFERENCES: * www.merucabs.com * Interview with Mr. Abbas (sr manager, Meru cabs) * Interview with Mr. Raju (driver at Meru cabs since 10 years) * Marketing Channels – seventh edition, Pearson