The Hola Taxi App Aims to Give Drivers Their Due Respect Back
The Hola Taxi app has a unique vision of giving drivers their due respect back, which would ultimately translate to customer satisfaction. How?
“Giving the drivers authority, respect and control of the industry is the main aim. Drivers should understand that ‘they’ run the industry and not any app or a company. Companies depend on drivers, not the other way around,” said Kamal Gill, the founder of Hola Taxi app in an exclusive chat with the Irish Insider.
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He further added, “As a taxi driver, I have come across taxi drivers suffering health issues due to the additional stress caused by other apps. I thought that I owed it to our drivers’ community because I have worked as a Taxi Driver myself, but this can only be done by introducing a new system which is beneficial for drivers. A system which will create job satisfaction, better mental and physical wellbeing, and improved customer service for our passengers.”
How is the Hola Taxi app different?
The first 500 co-founders would pay zero commission in their first fifty fares. Afterwards, they will pay only €1 fixed commission per job. He plans on distributing 75 per cent of the earnings back to the drivers, with no priority status and much more. Kamal Gill, the founder of Hola Taxi app, emphasized it’s the only app “For the drivers, by the drivers.”
“We have to take care of our drivers. For me, it is ideological business. I don’t want to keep it separate. It is a sharing business. Drivers should have their share and should feel they own the company, and that is what would make us successful.”
Kamal Gill also believes this would improve their mental health, as they wouldn’t feel pressured to fulfil a certain number of jobs in a week to acquire a ranking status or fear of getting blocked for a day. “We are not here to control our drivers, but Hola Taxi app is here to make drivers partners in its true sense.”
Our research showed that other companies are charging between a whopping 12-15 per cent commission on all completed jobs, and talking to some taxi drivers, they feared those commissions might even increase in coming months due to the recent inflation.
It’s just the beginning… still a long way to go…
He said, “We only launched last week in Athlone and this week in Dublin, and we have already signed up more than 700 drivers of Irish, African, Eastern European, Indian, and Pakistani descent. This shows our drivers’ trust in Hola Taxi and their need for a better app solution.”
Kamal Gill, sitting in his office in Ballsbridge in Mespil House with a huge Hola Taxi sign behind him that upholds the mission of ‘bringing change’, is optimistic about the app’s ability to do so.
He envisions that a customer sitting in a Hola taxi should be assured that the driver is looked after by the company.
Mr. Gill wants to do good for humanity, especially for those who have been suffering like him in the same industry. “I’m happy when I can fulfil what they want, that’s good enough. You won’t live for 200 years, but your legacy will.” His aim is to create a lasting, positive impact on the industry.
Hola Taxi is dedicated to making “each moment on the road valuable, whether you are behind the wheel or seated as a passenger.”
As the old saying goes, “Happy Drivers mean Happy Passengers.”
