A diagnostic study of the cab aggregation industry using the serviqual gap model

The taxi space in India is a fast-growing business and has been seeing a phenomenal growth in the past 9–10 years. Over $400 Mn (INR 2400 crores) of VC money has been pumped into these companies in the past 6 years itself. The Indian radio taxi market alone is estimated to be between $6-$9 billion dollars by different estimates, and is forecasted to grow at 17–20% annually. With the kind of Taxi booking and mobility solutions, which companies like Uber, Ola first made popular, cab aggregation industry has undergone a major change. The impact of the cab aggregators can be seen from advertisement on television, articles in newspapers, blogs that appear almost daily and the reason for this is that they noticed the gap between demand for taxi service and supply of taxi service. It not only fills the gap between demand & supply but also improved the quality of taxi service. This paper concentrates on finding the difference between the perception and the expectation of the customers towards app-based cab services using the SERVIQUAL GAP MODEL. Through the analysis, an attempt has been made to suggest measures to improve the services to meet expectations, in cases where the expectations exceed the perception. In areas where the perception or the service provided exceeds the expectations, suggestions are given to tone down the service provided, thereby reducing cost and efforts