1. 1
Summer Internship Project report on
Formulation of a Training and Development module for Taxi
drivers at TaxiVaxi and Preparing an HR Policy guide for the
company.
Submitted by:
Shubham Govil
15PGDMHR42
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the
PGDMHR Program
Under the guidance of
Corporate mentor: 1. Mr. Neeraj Tayal
Faculty mentor: 2. Dr. Soni Agrawal
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The report on the aforementioned topic is part of the 2-month summer internship project,
which is an integral part of the 2-year full time PGDMHR program of International
Management Institute & Research. The project is done to enhance the understanding and
observation of management problems from an academic perspective. The purpose of the
summer internship project is to enhance and integrate the understanding of various courses
taught in the PGDMHR program in the first year and to apply practical concepts and learning
to real managerial problems at the organization. Recommendations to the managerial
problem/scope of project will be a part of this report as it will stand testimony to the ability to
understand and comprehend the issues at hand. The report has been compiled keeping in mind
the rules of the organization and with utmost professionalism. The report does not, in any way
cite unofficial data sources or websites and all the references mentioned in the report are
authentic.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my company guide Mr. Neeraj Tayal, CEO-
TaxiVaxi, for guiding me throughout my summer internship and research project. His
encouragement, time and effort are highly appreciated.
I would like to thank Mr. Ankit Gupta, COO and Mr. Vinod Kumar, CTO for their
unending support in my Project.
I would, in particular, like to thank my faculty guide, Prof. (Dr.) Soni Agrawal, for her
valuable inputs and support throughout my project and providing me an opportunity to learn
outside the classroom.
In the end, I would also thank my fellow interns for their valuable suggestions during and
after the completion of the Summer Internship.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
S No Title Page No
1 Executive Summary 7
2 Introduction 8-13
3 Objectives of the study 14
4 Brief description of the concepts 15-38
5 Methodology followed 21
6 Data Analysis and findings / results 22-29
7 Conclusion/Summary/Implementation 32-34
8 Recommendations 38-39
9 Limitations of the study 39
10 Scope for future improvements 40
11 Appendices 40-43
12 References 44
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LIST OF TABLES
Table
Number
Title Page No
1 Customer problems 28
2 Income level of passengers 28
3 Skills required for training 31
4 Cost benefit analysis 32
6. 6
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
number
Title Page No
1 Organization structure 8
2 Industry analysis 10
3 Organised taxi market CAGR Year wise 11
4 Taxi Market breakup 11
5 Models introduced in the study 15
6 Age analysis 22
7 Gender analysis 22
8 Income level 23
9 Question 1&2 24
10 Question 3&4 25
11 Analysis 1 26
12 Analysis 2 27
13 Analysis 3 28
14 ADDIE Model 30
15 Evaluation Mechanism (Customer feedback model) 35
16 Stakeholder analysis 36
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
TaxiVaxi is an app based cab aggregator company. Its services are being used in more than 300 cities
pan India. Having started its operations in 2015 in Indian market, it is still in its growth stage in
India. The market is set to grow at a rate of 30.3% from 2013 to 2018. My project comprised of
several tasks in different areas like Driver-user interface, preparing HR policy manual, Learning and
development module for taxi drivers, bringing on board a new concept called In-car advertising, etc.
This report explains all the projects that I have successfully completed and the limitations associated
with those projects.
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INTRODUCTION
Company background
TaxiVaxi is first platform for booking Tour Taxis, Self Drive cars, Radio Taxis and
Carpooling on one single application. It aims at providing a hassle-free and smooth
booking experience for all your road travels. At TaxiVaxi, we bring a list of reputed
operators/vendors enabling to check availability, compare fares, check estimated time of
arrival (ETA) and finally book a ride with the service provider that best meets your needs.
To further rejuvenate your travel experience with us, we provide you services like
TaxiVaxi diaries, TaxiVaxi tadka, TaxiVaxi Wi-Fi and TaxiVaxi corporate. Book your
next trip through TaxiVaxi and we promise that the way you boo your trips will not be the
same again. Founded in 2014, the company has the mission to become a single solution for
all the road travel needs. Our vision is to enable every taxi operator in India to bring their
services online. The company is committed to streamline and automate the booking
process and provide every operator with technology, platform and support whereby they
can bring their business model online and make their presence felt to all the smartphone
users. For a start-up company, the major problem the start-up faces are of the organization
structure and also how to control the inorganic growth of the company, so the structure at
TaxiVaxi is;
Figure 1
Neeraj
Tayal CEO
Padmini
Agarwal
Ankit
Gupta COO
Praveen
Kumar
Bindu
Rawal
Anamika
Verma
Vinod
Kumar CTO
Chetan
Bansal
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Funding
First Round of Funding: TaxiVaxi secured its first funding of undisclosed amount from
angel investors in November 2015. The main aim of raising these funds was to use them for
further expansion and also for marketing purposes. Talking about the company’s long term
plans, the founders claim that they would be looking at expanding globally. Also, new
products like radio bikes, shuttle services, self-drive bikes etc would be brought on the
platter.
Second Round of Funding: TaxiVaxi raised a funding of $500K (approx INR 3.3cr) in 2nd
round of seed funding from HNIs. The main aim to raise the capital was to add more
services, improve its technology and develop the team further. Presently, TaxiVaxi operates
in 300 cities across the country including Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Gurgaon, Jaipur, and
Lucknow among others. It has a current user base of 15000+ and 20 corporate clients with
aggressive plans to grow up to 500 cities and achieve a target user base of 1000,000, by the
end of 2016.
Industry analysis
India taxi services market is majorly dominated by unorganized sector, however, the
organized radio taxi services market has been witnessing robust growth over the last five
years. With changing lifestyle of expanding middle class, the radio taxi market in the
country continues to grow. Number of radio taxis plying on Indian roads has witnessed a
tenfold increase between 2009 and 2013. This exponential growth has been
predominantly witnessed in metro cities, with penetration of organized sector continuing
to be very low in tier II and tier III cities as people in these cities prefer other economical
alternatives due to low per capita income.
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According to “India Radio Taxi Services Market Forecast & Opportunities, 2019’’,
the radio taxi services market revenues in India are forecast to grow at a CAGR of about
25% during 2014-19. There are many players in organized radio taxi services market that
provide 24x7 services throughout the year. Though radio taxi companies charge high fares
compared to unorganized taxis and public transport, the level of service provided is a lot
better than unorganized segment. Rapid urbanization, changing lifestyle and
technological improvements in commutation indicates that India radio taxi market would
increase in both value and volume terms.
Figure 2
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TAXIVAXI SERVICES
TaxiVaxi has started its business in radio cabs, local cabs, outstation cabs and self drive cars.
They initially started with retail customers. Currently they have the retail database of around
15000 users. Soon after entering into retail, they realized the gap in the corporate sector as
well. Hence they decided to enter into corporate market with a technologically efficient
solution.
Radio Taxi:
• Ola cab, Uber, MegaCabs, Easy Cabs, Apple Cabs, Flash Cabs, RBTS Cabs and
many more on the platform.
• Comparison of fares, availability and ratings by user
• Operations in 90 cities in India
Tour Taxi:
• 2500+ cabs and has operations in 30 cities.
• Offers Hourly rental car, airport transfers and outstation cabs
Self Drive Cars & Bikes:
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• Tie-ups with Micar, Letmedrive, justride, Stonehead Bikes etc. in 10 cities in India.
• Comparison of fares, Terms & Conditions at one place.
Corporate Carpool:
• Fixed home to office carpool service only for corporate employees.
• Solution to daily office commute at a lesser cost and with trusted co-passengers.
• The service is operational in Delhi NCR
TaxiVaxi Corporate:
• First of its kind solution to companies for employee travel.
• Complete online solution for booking. Booking Confirmation/Billing/ MIS/ Emails
etc. from a centralized system.
• One solution for Pan-India Operations
• Home to office pick/drop
• Hourly Rental/ Outstation travel/ Airport transfer
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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
1. Project 1- The main objective of the first project is to establish credibility among the
Radio cab users for TaxiVaxi, by providing better service to the customers and also by
trying to eliminate any problems faced by the customers through either providing training
to taxi drivers or by any other means. The second important part of the project is in-car
advertising, through in-car advertising the company is in a position to develop a market
for a new medium of advertising, where there are not much competitors present and
opening up a new source of revenue for themselves.
2. Project 2- The second project aims at developing a HR policy manual for the company,
which would ensure that all the activities of its stakeholders are for the benefit of the
company and also lies under legal jurisdiction.
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MODELS INTRODUCED IN THE STUDY
Figure 5
Customer Satisfaction
survey
Personal Interviews
Data Gathering
Data Processing and
Analysis
Developing an
Learning and
Development module.
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TaxiVaxi was facing a major crisis of customer retention since the company had begun
its operations in September 2015, so the leadership at TaxiVaxi decided to establish
strong credibility for TaxiVaxi among the radio cab users by eliminating any problems
faced by the customers. In order to find out what are the major problems faced by the
TaxiVaxi users, we conducted an exploratory research. For conducting the research, we
prepared a customer satisfaction survey which was distributed among the existing as well
as the potential customers of TaxiVaxi. All the major elements of a good questionnaire
were kept in mind while preparing the questionnaire like;
1. Usage of clear words.
2. Constructing simple sentences.
3. Avoiding leading questions.
4. Usage of consumer terminology.
5. Logical sequencing of questions.
6. Appropriate measurement scale was chosen.
We managed to gather around 200 responses from different sets of customers. The next
stage in the research process was of collecting drivers side information in order to find
out their apprehensions behind providing hospitality industry kind of service to the
customers and also to try finding their views and opinion about in-car advertising which
was considered to be a new medium of advertising and potential cash cow for the
company. Then the data collected was correlated, analysed and finally results were
interpreted. From the inferences we came to a conclusion that in order to mitigate issues
relating to driver-user interface and customer retention, we have to develop a learning
and development framework for the taxi drivers in order to establish strong credibility for
TaxiVaxi among both its retail as well as corporate clients/users.
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CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY- A customer satisfaction survey has a
minimum of 5-10 questions relating to the service delivery and customer experience. The
main objective of this kind of survey is to find out how satisfied are the customers. A
customer who is satisfied with the services is considered to be very valuable for the
company. Happy customers are considered to be repeat purchasers; they have high
customer lifetime values and are very unlikely to defect to competitors. But the flipside
to this is that an unhappy customer is considered to be a nightmare for the company. They
are more likely not to continue to buy from you, and what is even worse is that unhappy
customers tell lots of people about their bad experience. So here in this research project,
our aim was to find out the major problems faced by the passengers while using a taxi
service. So the survey that we designed for TaxiVaxi is given below;
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PERSONAL INTERVIEWS- Personal interviews is a method of data collection used
for collecting primary data. A personal interview survey is also known as face to face
survey that is utilized when a specific target population is involved. The motive behind
using personal interviews for data collection is to explore the responses of people to
gather more and deeper information. So here at TaxiVaxi this method of survey was used
to get the responses of the Taxi drivers and try to understand the reason behind them not
providing quality service to the customers, and bringing the issues urgently in front of the
top management for quick remedial action. Personal interviews also provided useful
insights regarding views and opinions of taxi drivers regarding In-car advertising.
DATA GATHERING- Data collection is a process of gathering and measuring
information for the targeted variables in a systematic manner, which then helps in
answering relevant questions and evaluating all the possible outcomes. A formal data
collection is necessary because it ensures whatever data is gathered is accurate and defined
ensuring that subsequent decisions are valid or not. We have used Web Based
questionnaires in our project as this was the most cost effective and convenient method, also
this would take less time and would be easily filled by respondents. In this we sent Google
forms to around 150-200 respondents and then analysed its findings. We will be analysing the
responses from 156 individuals. Web based questionnaires: A new and inevitably growing
methodology is the use of Internet based research. This would mean receiving an e-mail on
which you would click on an address that would take you to a secure web-site to fill in a
questionnaire. This type of research is often quicker and less detailed. Some disadvantages of
this method include the exclusion of people who do not have a computer or are unable to
access a computer. Also the validity of such surveys is in question as people might be in a
hurry to complete it and so might not give accurate responses.
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DATA PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS-
Figure 6
Figure 7
The survey was conducted among people belonging to different age groups and geographic
locations. The cumulative responses which we got stated that driver related problems are the
most commonly faced problems by Taxi users, driver related problems and service denial by
drivers were the most commonly selected options by the users. There scores were in the range
of 8 to 10.
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City of Residence
Delhi
Kolkata
Pune
Trivandrum
Gurgaon
Faridabad
Indore
Bangalore
Lucknow
Hyderabad
Mumbai
Occupation
1. Self-employed
2. Engineer
3. Government employees
4. Lawyer
5. Private tutor
6. Service
7. Summer intern
8. Taxi service
9. Tour operator
Figure 8
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Figure 11
From the survey, if we cumulate all the responses we can see that the taxi users face driver
related problems majorly that may either branch towards their behaviour, service denial by
them, their respective driving skills, etc.
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Figure 12
From the survey we can see that automatic location detector in the app is also considered to
be one of the major problems which the customer faces while using the App and long
turnaround time for the customer centres was making the users little bit impatient and could
might lead to the passengers switching over to another taxi app for their respective travelling
needs.
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Figure 13
Table 1
Table 2
SNO OCCUPATION GENDER MAIN PROBLEMS FACED POST BOOKING
1 Engineer MALE Driver/Vehicle related
2 Self Employed MALE Driver related
3 Salaried Employee MALE Driver related
4 Government
employee
MALE Driver related
SNO INCOME LEVEL TAXI USERS
1 10,00,000 TO 20,00,000 P. A 2
2 10,000 TO 1,00,000 9
3 100000 TO 10,00,000 6
4 More than 20,00,000 p. a 1
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Data analysis is a process of applying statistical techniques to describe and evaluate data.
In our research process we have tried correlating two variables like occupation of the
respondents with the post booking problems faced by them. So the results clearly show
that irrespective of the occupation all the respondents major problem is with the service
of TaxiVaxi drivers and we also analysed that the major customer base of TaxiVaxi lies
in the income bracket of 10,000 to 1,00,000 p.a, which was quite surprising when
compared with the industry standards as the major customer base of radio cabs is
expanding middle class. From our research we derive at the conclusion that student
population comprises the major part of the customer base at TaxiVaxi.
DEVELOPING AN LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT MODULE
OBJECTIVE
This module has been prepared as a model to assist the taxi drivers at TaxiVaxi in order to
provide better service to the customers, to build strong TaxiVaxi credibility among its Users,
because of current driver related instances which hampered the brand image of various
reputed taxi companies in India and also to establish TaxiVaxi as a customer focused and
socially responsible entity.
PROCESS STRUCTURE
The training process at TaxiVaxi was conducted in 5 phases. The training department at
TaxiVaxi followed the ADDIE model to conduct the training program effectively. The
components of the model are explained below:
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Figure 14
ANALYSIS
OBJECTIVE- According to the results of the survey that we conducted, it was quite evident
that the major issues that the customer faces is of driver related problems hence we identified
a need for training in behavioural skills, soft skills and driving skills for taxi drivers in
TaxiVaxi in order to provide a better customer service.
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Needs-
Soft Skills Behavioural Skills
How to pick up calls of the customers. O Opening doors for the passengers especially
women passengers
How to greet Customers N Not showing attitude to the passengers.
H How to modify their greetings for
women and men passengers.
Trying to make passengers feel comfortable in
the vehicle through their own personal
mannerisms.
Asking them their preferred routes M Maintaining distance from women passengers
H How the drivers can be trained to not to
engage in unnecessary conversations
B Behaving in such a manner which does not
threaten the passengers in any manner.
Table 3
OTHERS-
1. Personal hygiene
2. Car maintenance
3. Driving skills
4. Traffic rules
5. Billing discrepancies
DESIGN
1. Traditional methods
● Pamphlet distribution
2. Electronic methods
● Audio-visual
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DEVELOPMENT
Analysis of Options:
Criteria:
1. Cost to Company
2. Effectiveness of Module
3. Operational Efficiency
Options Cost to
Company
Effectiveness of Module Operational Efficiency
Pamphlet Low Cost Customized and easy to read. Easy to develop and
distribute
Audio-
Visual
Moderate to
High
Engaging and can incorporate
learning in a much better way.
Easy to Distribute,
implementation can be
regulated
Table 4
IMPLEMENTATION
1. Designing of Pamphlet: The pamphlet to be distributed to the drivers will be designed
in three phases:
Phase 1: Presentation (Annexure 1)
Personal Hygiene
a) Clothes: clean and ironed
b) Shoes: polished/clean
c) Nails: Clipped & Clean
d) No smoking or chewing tobacco while there is a passenger
e) Keep body odour in check
f) Keep handkerchiefs for sneezing and coughing
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Vehicle Hygiene
a) Car should be cleaned from both inside and outside
b) Dashboard should not be cluttered
c) The seats should be in good shape
d) Regular use of car fresheners
e) The fire extinguisher should be present
Phase 2: Punctuality & Knowledge (Annexure 2)
a) Reach on decided time and location
b) Inform the passenger in advance in case of delay
c) Have a good knowledge of routes
d) Knowledge of how to change a tire in case of emergency
e) Check for fuel before meeting passengers
f) Don’t panic in a situation like earthquake
g) Have all the necessary documents handy
h) Have information regarding nearest hospitals, police stations, hotel/restaurants and tourist
attractions.
Phase 3: Safety and Communication Etiquette (Annexure 3)
Safety
a) Follow traffic rules
b) Don’t skip red lights even if passengers ask
c) Have functional airbags
d) Avoid rash driving and over speeding
e) Avoid use of sudden breaks, or overtaking from wrong side
f) Have contacts of mechanics in case of mechanical failure
g) Don’t indulge in drunk driving
h) Always have a spare tire
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Communication & Etiquettes
a) Greet men as sir and women as madam
b) Don’t talk on phone while driving
c) Ask permission before halting for urinating or any other thing.
d) Assist disabled and elderly passengers in boarding and de-boarding
e) Help passengers with heavy luggage
f) Don’t adjust rear view mirrors for seeing women passengers.
g) Talk to operator in case of any billing discrepancies.
h) Don’t ask personal questions from passengers
i) Don’t play loud music
j) AC vents should be directed towards the passengers
2. Interactive Video- A video explaining the above mentioned points in an interactive format
which engages both visual and hearing aids of drivers will be designed. The video will be all-
encompassing; covering all the aspects divided in the three phases above.
EVALUATION
Driver Rating System: A new feature is proposed in the duty slip used by TaxiVaxi
at the end of each ride which provides all the details regarding that particular ride,
through which a customer can rate his/her driver. Over the month each driver will get
his accumulated score, which will be a major component of his performance. This
will give a gap between the expected behaviour and actual behaviour and will
highlight the training needs of particular drivers. Those scores will act as a benchmark
for the company for understanding how effective the training programme for drivers
is.
Customer feedback mechanism: While the rating system will give ratings to
individual drivers, a customer feedback mechanism will bring out the issues which
left the travellers unsatisfied. This will help both the organization and drivers to
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prioritize and resolve issues to increase customer satisfaction and also will help in
building strong reputation for TaxiVaxi among its existing and potential user base.
Figure 15
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS
Stakeholders
1. Taxi drivers
2. Customers
3. Operators
4. TaxiVaxi
36. 36
Figure 16
TAXIVAXI
Key player is taxivaxi which focuses efforts on this group
Involved in governance/decision making body
It engages and give consults regularly to drivers
TAXI DRIVERS
Engages customers and consults key drivers on interest area
Try to increase level of interest
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OPERATORS
Makes use of interest through involvement in low risk areas
Potential supporter/goodwill ambassador
CUSTOMERS
Inform via general communications, newspapers, website, mailshots.
Benefits to different stakeholders
1. Taxi drivers
Improved mannerism and communication skills
Increased chances of repeated customers
Good driver rating leads to benefits for driver
In depth knowledge and finding quickest routes amid congestion
Help improve his personality and being patient
2. Customers
Higher degree of customer satisfaction
Better experience for customers
Customer Engagement
3. Operators
Training of taxi drivers increases reputation of the operators
They are likely to get more business is drivers behave appropriately
Taxi drivers up to date with customer expectations and changes in the taxi industry.
Training assists all drivers to effectively meet the needs of customers by developing
and maintaining the necessary knowledge and skills.
When customers' needs are met they are likely to continue to use taxis, which means
more business for all drivers.
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4. TaxiVaxi
Increased brand image of Taxivaxi
Training of taxi drivers will give a responsible impression to the investors
It will bring a lot more corporate business to TaxiVaxi.
RECOMMENDATION
Many taxi organizations have come to the realization of the importance of the role of training
and development programs as it increases the organization's staff efficiency, skills and
productivity. Few recommendations are as follows:
1. Advanced driving instruction at a further education and training center for all taxi drivers
should be a legal requirement, as it will reduce the unsafe road practices followed by taxi
drivers.
2. Taxi personnel should also receive training at a further education and training in customer
care to raise their awareness of the need for courtesy towards their customers. Customer
relations skills is important for the business owner and employee to take into consideration
what the customer is saying and accept suggestions and ideas of their customers and try to
respond appropriately.
3. Systematic Training: Identification of training needs should be done professionally in
conjunction with the taxi association and owners as well as the individuals involved. Everyone
involved should agree exactly to what the trainees are lacking, for instance what skill is needed,
and what attitudes need to be changed toward work performance.
4. Objectives should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely) and
unambiguous, and should develop individual as well as meet the needs of the industry.
Objectives should also include performance targets, measures standards and should be seen as
attainable by individuals. Also a basis for motivating through intrinsic and extrinsic rewards
should be provided as this will lead to improved performance.
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5. Motivation generally seeks to boost employees’ morale to work hard and thus increase
productivity. Motivation include both extrinsic, such as more pay, allowance, fringe benefits,
and intrinsic such as recognition, appreciation, acceptance by fellow workers, opportunities for
promotion and career development.
8. Improve interpersonal relationships: An interpersonal relationship is another way for
employees to develop skills, increase knowledge about the industry and its clients by
interacting with a more experienced member.
LIMITATIONS
Organizational Level
a) The financial constraints prevented implementation of highly effective options
such as workshops with SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) in the travel and
hospitality industry.
Individual Level
a) Driver’s unwillingness to learn.
b) Language barrier in different cities.
c) Lack of awareness among drivers regarding the importance of learning which
could help them in their personal as well as professional growth.
d) Illiteracy
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SCOPE FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENT
The training programme at TaxiVaxi can be outsourced later on to a travel and hospitality
education firm specialized in conducting driver training workshops by using various case
studies, group experience sharing events and fun interactive activities with many prizes for
participants at a later stage in the company’s growth cycle when they have the requisite
budget to invest in such kind of training programme. As it would help in incorporating
learning among the taxi drivers.
ANNEXURES
Annexure 1 (Phase 1)
