Look who’s riding pillion!

A quiet revolution is underway on India’s roads, and at its heart lies the growing popularity of bike taxi apps — changing the way women commute in their day-to-day lives. In the process, it has given a big fillip to women empowerment as also gender sensitivity — two yardsticks by which we measure the development of a society in terms of human values.

As recently as a few years back, it was tough to imagine a woman riding pillion with a complete stranger. “We had to think a thousand times before we could ask a male two-wheeler rider for a lift,” says Archna Mand, an IT professional. All that has changed in the past two or so years. The advent of bike taxis has ushered in a reversal of the mindset.

A random survey of a cross-section of bike-taxi operators reveals that women account for 60 to 70 per cent of their total customer base in the Chandigarh tricity area. The figure stands at 40 per cent in Tier-1 cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru. The phenomenon, which cuts across age groups, is more prevalent among the younger lot, mostly professionals and students from the middle and lower-middle class, whose daily routine involves a pre-defined commute.

Dos and Don’ts

• Always use apps that have an established track record.
• Ensure that the rider’s credentials on the app are same as those of the rider and the bike that has come to pick you.
• Before getting on the bike, check the demeanour of the bike rider. Cancel and choose another rider if you feel uncomfortable.
• Always share your route and destination with your family or friends.
• Always wear a helmet.
• Check the condition of the bike.
• Check against rough-riding and over-speeding.
• Avoid unnecessary conversation.
• Do not veer from your chosen route, avoid taking short-cuts.
• Avoid venturing into prohibited zones.
• Do not leave your valuables unattended, and avoid making unscheduled stops.
• Use the SOS feature in the app to contact the service provider, police or your family, in case you feel something is wrong.
• Shout out to seek help in case of extreme emergencies.

“The majority of my customers are women as men generally prefer to ride their own two-wheelers or cars,” says Rajesh Kumar, a Rapido ‘captain’, who has been doing the bike taxi gig for the past two years. “When I started out, my customers were usually men; for example, someone at a drinking joint wanting to go home, or an office-goer. But casting aside all inhibitions, more and more women are now using our services,” he says.

The ride-hailing service has several advantages over other modes of transport. It is easily available at all times of the day, substantially cutting down the waiting period. It is highly economical; costing only Rs 36 to go to Sector 44 from Sector 18, a distance of over 5 km, for instance. It would cost upward of Rs 100 in a cab, or even an auto-rickshaw. The government public transport modes are, of course, no longer in contention given the inherent inefficiencies and the limited routes.

Secondly, bike taxis are considered safer than a four-wheeler. Says Manreet Kaur, a consultant working in a company in IT Park: “I have been taking a bike taxi to work for the past six months. I feel safer on a bike as in case I’m in any danger, I can always shout out to make others aware of my predicament.” She, however, insists that so far she has never had any reason to complain. “Generally, the operators are courteous as their performance directly impacts their payouts.”

In Tier-2 city like Chandigarh, users are usually familiar with the routes. “I remember my route like the back of my hand and can easily monitor where the biker is going and can take corrective action if I find anything amiss,” says Jeevanjot Kaur, who takes a bike taxi from Mohali to her office in Chandigarh daily.

In Delhi, students like Pushpanjli Bisht, who commutes from Noida to Delhi University, prefer to take a bike taxi on weekdays. “It has become a part of our lives. A large number of students staying in my paying guest accommodation use them regularly. The sheer practicality of it beats all other modes of transport,” she says.

Sanjay Austa, a former journalist and activist, says his wife used a bike taxi for the first time to navigate the narrow lanes of Chandni Chowk and now feels empowered enough to travel anywhere, anytime.

The bike taxi apps have inbuilt safety measures for customer use in case of emergencies. The apps come with an SOS button, which can be deployed to inform the emergency response team of the company or any other authority or family member who can be of help. “Even if I have to go to an address for the first time, I can always share the route mapping with my family members,” says Anjali Yadav, a housewife who often takes a bike taxi to visit her relatives in Chandigarh.

Rapido’s city operations team says that like the other players in business, the company does a thorough screening of the gig workers before taking them on. Says Rajesh, “The company does a four-stage screening process on the background of the rider, which includes verifying the driver’s identity, driving licence and vehicle registration number.” The pillion rider is required to wear a helmet and can report to the customer care team in case of any inconsistencies. The commuters can choose a preferred rider to pick them on a daily basis.

“Gender inhibition is no longer an issue,” says Feroze Khan, a bike taxi operator who has been doing the gig for the past four months. During this period, he has had to pick even inebriated women after parties. “It can get problematic for us during these times as the customer can act erratic and we have to be extra careful,” he says.

Factors driving the change

“The new-age woman is no longer bound by an archaic mindset. Economic empowerment has led to their empowerment in other spheres as well. Mobility is one of the prime areas. The psyche of fear is no longer there. On the whole, the outlook of society, too, is changing rapidly with the onset of new technologies that make life easier. It is certainly leading to greater gender sensibility,” says Pam Rajput, Professor Emeritus, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

However, there are others who sound a note of caution. Prof Manvinder Kaur from PU’s Department-cum-Centre for Women’s Studies and Development maintains that though there has been a big change in the outlook of the younger generation, women empowerment cannot be taken in isolation. “There is too much heterogeneity in our country. Mobility is only one aspect of it. We hear of grave incidents of rape and molestation, even of minors, on a daily basis. As per the National Crime Records Bureau data, 96 per cent of the rapes are committed by people who are known to women. In Chandigarh, we have a highly skewed sex ratio of 818 females to 1,000 males.” Manvinder Kaur has a point. In Chennai, there have been reports of bike-taxi riders adopting an ungentlemanly conduct with the riders.

Despite varying opinions, one cannot but agree that services like bike taxis are giving a huge impetus to gender mainstreaming. Technology, in fact, has come to be a key catalyst for change.

— The writer is a freelance contributor