In a bid to enhance the first and last-mile experience of metro commuters in Delhi, ETO Motors has launched its last-mile services with women driver partners from Delhi’s Azadpur Metro Station
Recently, ETO Motors announced that the company has partnered with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to deploy women-driven electric auto rickshaws at metro stations in the national capital. It is learnt that the first set of 36 e-autos was flagged off from Azadpur metro station this week in presence of of the DMRC and company officials. Notably, the e-autos manufactured by ETO Motors will have only women drivers as part of the partnership with DMRC.
The company mentioned that it will add 100 more e-autos and develop parking and charging hubs at Kalkaji, Uttam Nagar, Dwarka and Majlis Park metro stations.
ETO Motors’ MD, Sh. Pavan Chavali pointed out that the company “has trained unemployed women to drive e-autos.” He further added, “We are going to deploy more e-autos at other metro stations in Delhi in a phased manner.”
He also noted that the e-autos will be provided to women drivers against a daily rental of around Rs 400. “They can take the EV on rent from a hub developed at the metro station.”
It must be noted that according to the agreement, women drivers would be allowed to ply e-autos in a radius of up to 7 km. Chavali remarked that as part of its commitment towards greater gender diversity, the company had trained 100 young unemployed women to drive electric autos in the 100% EV city of Kevadia (Ekta Nagar) in Gujarat. “Now, we are going to deploy 300 electric autos at Metro Stations in Delhi in collaboration with DMRC in a phased manner.”
Principal Executive Director of DMRC, Anuj Dayal stated that the introduction of those e-autos would improve the last-mile connectivity for passengers of nearby localities.
Dayal further said: “In recent years, DMRC has introduced many eco-friendly initiatives to ensure a robust last-mile connectivity system, which enables the commuters to prefer nonpolluting public transport modes over personal vehicles.”
It is interesting to note that ETO Motors has partnered with the Transport Department of Delhi, GMR Varalakshmi Foundation and MOWO social initiatives, School of Driving & Training Institute, Burari (DTI) and Institute of Driving and Traffic Research (IDTR), Sarai Kale Khan to train women driver partners.
ETO Motors, a Hyderabad-based electric mobility start-up, identifies as a 360-degree electric mobility solution provider. They offer electric three-wheelers, electric autos and EV charging solutions in India.