TaxiForSure joins fare war as competition in taxi market intensifies

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September 17, 2014

Nikita Garia, MINT Bangalore, 17 September 2014 Cab booking service TaxForSure, which recently raised $35 million in funding, has cut rates sharply, joining a fare battle with rivals Olacabs and Uber to grab a bigger share of a rapidly growing market. Although TaxiForSure had earlier said it would resist price cuts, the company, controlled by Serendipity Infolabs Pvt. Ltd, announced a 25% price cut for booking through its app; a week earlier, it cut prices by half for rides booked between 10am and 4pm via its app. TaxiForSure was under pressure to cut prices, as rivals OlaCabs and Uber have…

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Logistics players ride e-com bandwagon to raise money

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September 11, 2014

Reghu Balakrishnan, Business Standard Mumbai, 11 September 2014 Indian private equity (PE) investors are gearing up to participate in the e-commerce growth story. In recent past, back-end logistic players have been on radar of PE players. India's e-commerce market, which is expected to reach $20 billion by 2020, has seen the presence of five-six large organised specialised logistics players. Devangshu Dutta, CEO of Third Eyesight, a retail consultancy, said: "While building a retail and consumer brand carries a potentially high reward, they are also high risk as shown by the attrition among e-commerce companies. On the other hand, no matter…

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The Foreign ‘Curry’ Challenge In India

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August 30, 2014

Ekta Sharma Verma, Franchise India/Retailer New Delhi, 30 August 2014 Commencing a new restaurant biz or an outlet in India usually comes with a lot of challenges for entrepreneurs. But the challenges and dares are more when you replicate a foreign brand’s model in India. So, what are the challenges that the far-off food brands see while foraying in India. Let’s talk to experts from the F&B sector and know more on this. As per Third Eyesight, a consulting firm - The number of international brands continued to grow each year at a steady pace until the early 2000s and…

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Uber may have to tweak payment model in India

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August 26, 2014

Nikita Garia, MINT Bangalore, 26 August 2014 San Francisco-based Uber Technologies Inc. may be forced to change its business model, which relies on cashless transactions, after Indiaโ€™s central bank on Friday issued a notification that will reduce the convenience associated with the taxi booking app. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said Uber and other companies that offer app-based purchases cannot allow customers to pay with their credit cards without a two-step authentication process. Customers have hitherto simply had to enter their credit card details at the time of signing up with Uber. Every ride was automatically charged…

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A Double Topping For Growth

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August 22, 2014

Meghna Maiti, Outlook Business Mumbai, 22 August 2014 The first customers were the British in pre-Independence Delhi, who queued up at Kwality in Connaught Place’s Inner Circle for a cupful of Iqbal Ghai and Pishori Lamba’s hand-churned ice cream. As the years went by, even as Kwality and Gaylord restaurants became renowned for their food, it was the ice cream sold under the same brands that was the real commercial success — so much so that Kwality became generic for ice-cream for several generations of Delhiites. The association with Kwality ended in 1998 when Ravi Ghai, Iqbal’s son and the…

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