Wanted more women in taxi, logistics lane

Taxi operators and logistics providers, who traditionally employed men as drivers, are increasingly hiring women to drive cars and commercial vehicles and deliver ecommerce orders on two-wheelers. Demand for female drivers is growing faster than that for male personnel — 20% against 14% year-on-year — though on a low base, according to data from staffing services provider Teamlease. Staffing companies and fleet operators said they are facing a shortage of female drivers to fill the growing demand. One of the reasons for this, they said, is the work from office mandate that more companies are adopting.

This is leading to more women working from offices and on night shifts, and companies prefer female cab drivers for scheduled drops of these employees who work late hours, said Balasubramanian A, vice president and head of consumer and ecommerce at TeamLease Services.

“Usually if it’s a male driver, the company would send a security guard to accompany women employees which is an extra cost, but with women cab drivers, this is not a challenge,” said Balasubramanian. “It is a smart and cost-efficient option too.” The demand is mostly concentrated in metro cities, he added. However, women still account for just about 1% of the 1.7-2 million pool of cab drivers. Data show southern and western parts of the country are employing more female drivers than in the North, where it may still be a taboo for women to drive cabs or commercial vehicles, said experts.

Besides, there are safety concerns for the female drivers themselves in many regions, especially in the North. There is also a spike in demand for female two-wheeler riders from delivery companies, which are facing monthly attrition of as high as 40% among their delivery personnel. Women, they have found, are likely to stay in the job more than men. Though it is hard to get women on board, once they join it is easy to train them and their retention rate is higher, said Balasubramanian. Attrition among women is almost half that of male riders. But here too, of the estimated 7 million two-wheeler riding executives who deliver ecommerce and other orders, women account for under 1%.

TRAINING AND UPSKILLING

Several companies are investing in training and upskilling women in driving skills. In fiscal 2024, Maruti Driving Schools, which are run by the automaker’s dealers, trained more than 355,000 people and over 44% of them were women. Ashok Leyland, through its partnership with the Delhi government’s ‘Mission Parivartan’, has trained 180 women, several of whom are now employ ed as bus drivers with the Delhi Transport Corporation, said Raja Radhakrishnan, the commercial vehicle maker’s president-human resources. Separately, Ashok Leyland last year provided specialised training covering diverse driving conditions to 100 women.

MG Motor India and the Vadodara Police have a partnership wherein women are provided with a platform to learn driving skills and basic soft skills. MG also helps women get driving licences and facilitates female drivers get employed through ride-hailing firms and car-rental agencies. Employee transportation company Moto Business Service India, a subsidiary of Yamaha Motor, has trained several female drivers on electric two- and four-wheelers, said chief operating officer Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy.