The FINANCIAL — One of the largest taxi companies in Georgia ‘Taxi 200 200’ is offering the fastest, most friendly and reliable taxi service in a bid to beat the fierce competition. Furthermore, this year the company will launch a plastic card payment system, making the payment process even more convenient for customers.
Being one of the best taxi companies in Georgia, having a well-maintained fleet at its disposal as well as solid and expert employees and well-trained drivers is not enough for Taxi 200 200. The company’s management plans to further improve its services and meet the needs of more customers.
Taxi 200 200 teamed up with one of Georgia’s largest banks, TBC Bank, to introduce a plastic card payment system to customers in the “nearest future”.
The advanced ride conciliation system enables Taxi 200 200 to meet a wide variety of transport requests. Customers can just dial +995 032 2 200 200, or use the taxi company’s mobile application to make an order.
Taxi 200 200 offers reliable and fast service. The company’s call centre is available 24 hours a day and is able to provide customers with a taxi within 4-6 minutes.
Taxi 200 200 is serving several thousand passengers a day.
Director of Taxi 200 200 Nikoloz Khoperia told The FINANCIAL that this year’s challenge was the recently-increased competition the company is facing.
“In a situation where more and more players are appearing on the market it is important to maintain the satisfaction level of our customers and do our best to even improve the service we provide,” Khoperia said.
Last year Taxi 200 200 increased the number of its drivers and office employees.
“As a result, we created more job places and I am very happy to be the employer of more and more people,” Khoperia said.
The devaluation of the Georgian national currency the Lari was the main challenge for businesses in Georgia last year, including Taxi 200 200.
“The general economic situation had an impact on our company as well. Like many other companies we also suffered from the devaluation of the Lari against the US dollar. Life became more expensive and people had less money to spend,” Khoperia said.
“Despite the fact that we offer the best service at the lowest price in Georgia people still saved money by refusing to use taxis. This was reflected in our business. The number of taxi orders decreased last year compared to the previous year. However, the situation has been improving this year,” he added.
All drivers working at Taxi 200 200 have to meet very strict requirements. As well as having qualified driving skills the drivers should also have good knowledge of the city map, and be very polite while serving customers.
Q. Taxi 200 200 shows support for people with disabilities, breaking down the stereotypes and stigma surrounding them. As of today, how many people with disabilities are employed at Taxi 200 200?
A. We have both non-disabled and disabled personnel working at our call centre, setting a great example to numerous organizations all across Georgia.
Taxi 200 200 employs about 70 people, of which 15 are people with disabilities. So they make up more than 20 percent of the total number of people employed at Taxi 200 200.
Mainly people with disabilities work as operators, however some of them are also employed in administration and even as drivers.
The initiative by Taxi 200 200 to employ as many disabled people as possible has gained quite positive feedback. More than a half of the employees at Taxi 200-200’s call centre are physically challenged.
We also have cars capable of transporting people in wheelchairs.
To be honest this initiative was very challenging at first. It was necessary to create an adapted environment for the people with disabilities. It was vital for us to create equal conditions for every person who works at our company.
We created a new office for them. It was difficult to find a proper office. Thanks to Didube Plaza we together managed to create the infrastructure needed for people with disabilities.
Besides, in comparison with many countries our public transport is not adapted for people with disabilities. So Taxi 200 200 itself cares for providing transportation to its valued workforce. For this purpose we adapted a certain number of cars to make them comfortable for transporting people with disabilities.
Employing people with disabilities was our social responsibility. We knew it would be challenging and it would require additional financial resources. But today we are all glad to have them in the office. I hope that such an example will change the environment in Georgia and that we will all do more and more to support these people.
It would be great if the state also supported such initiatives.
Out of 53,109 employed people employed at public sector only 112 are people with disabilities, according to the official figures. This is a very low rate.
Q. What innovative offers do you have for customers and how do you manage to win over customers?
A. Taxi 200 200 was one of the first companies to introduce taxi dispatch software. Thanks to modern digital technologies we are free to bring innovative services and ideas.
After a long search we chose the Swedish application TaxiCaller which goes well with iPhones as well as android system smartphones.
Q. Traffic congestion is a big problem in Georgia. How challenging is it for the service that Taxi 200 200 offers customers?
A. Traffic jams are one of the biggest headaches for us – for those who drive our own cars, or use public transport or taxis. It is precisely traffic jams that are the number one reason for having to cancel an order.
When we see that a car cannot be at an address on time we are forced to cancel that order. Some passengers have a very negative reaction to this, but we cannot avoid such uncomfortable situations.
There is also another problem. One of the reasons for the dissatisfaction of our customers is when a driver cannot reach an exact place. By this I mean it is forbidden to stop cars on certain streets and especially on central streets. For this reason, the driver has to continue on his way and cannot stop if the passenger does not appear on time.
Our managers call every disappointed customer and explain the reason for their disappointment. I hope they can understand everything properly and remain loyal.
Q. Taxi 200 200 won Golden Brand. What was the reason for this recognition?
The reason that Tbilisians receive cheap taxi service is because Taxi 200 200 was the first company to introduce such low prices.
We were the first company to implement innovative systems.
And finally, we are the company which offers the best service to its customers.
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