Ride-hailing firm Namma Yatri officially launches its cab services in Bengaluru, its largest market, as per reports.

For the initial few months, the firm is not charging a subscription fee from cab drivers and plans to start charging a fee of Rs 90 per day for unlimited rides after October 1. It's already signed up 25,000 cabbies and expects to sign up over a million in the next six months.

Ola and Uber charge a commission of 25-30 percent for each ride from its drivers in most markets, and their core businesses of cab hailing are threatened by Namma Yatri's foray.

Karthick Selvan says, “The firm will launch rentals and inter-city cab rides in Karnataka by the end of the week. It will also start testing cab rides in Delhi in the next few weeks. The company already offers taxi services in Kochi and Kolkata, and is testing out the same in Chennai.”

“We hope to be operationally profitable in a year’s time in the new markets we launch in, and for cabs in Bengaluru that might be a matter of months once subscriptions kick off. The firm had kept its cloud and infrastructure costs at Rs 1 per ride to improve profitability. The firm is “operationally profitable” in Bengaluru.” says Selvan.

According to the new fare structure announced by the state government on February 4, vehicles used for taxi services have been divided into three categories depending on the price of the vehicle. Industry bodies like the Internet and Mobile Association of India and the National Association of Software and Service Companies have protested the prices mandated by the government, saying they will hurt ride-hailing firm’s ability to innovate and improve services.

There are four segments: Non AC Mini, AC Mini, Sedan and XL Cab. Non AC Mini offers cheaper, non-AC rides, while the rest offer AC rides and larger vehicles. For all modes except Non AC Mini, the firm will follow the pricing mandated by the Karnataka government.