If you value comfort and every minute of your time, it is better to approach the choice of taxi service in all seriousness. According to reviews, City-Mobil is one of the best specialized services in Moscow, with which you can arrange transportation by car. The information service declares itself to be a reliable assistant for those whose life rhythm does not allow them to waste time waiting for public transport. However, according to the driver’s reviews, working at City-Mobil has not only advantages.
Online taxi service
If you live in Moscow or one of the three Russian cities (Kazan, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar), you must have heard of him. You do not need to read any customer reviews about City-Mobil to understand why this service is in demand among residents of these settlements:
- Firstly, the application through which you can place an order is very convenient for users. It has an accessible and intuitive interface for selecting the necessary options. In addition, with the help of the program, the client always has the opportunity to express his wishes about the upcoming trip.
- Secondly, all those who constantly use City-Mobile, in their reviews, note that cars always arrive at their appointed place without delay.
- Thirdly, most users are satisfied with the pricing policy of the company.
What customers say about this service
If you have already used the services of various services to call a taxi, then you are probably aware of the flaws of each of them. One service, for example, launched an application that is inconvenient to use. To order a car through another service, you need to call the dispatcher, which is often simply impossible. Someone was completely disappointed in these services: the ordered car was trivially late or did not arrive at all, or arrived, but with a very dirty interior, etc. Therefore, the first thing that users of the City-Mobile service say is the standard 10- minute car delivery and a convenient program for calling a taxi.
A huge taxi fleet is another advantage of the service. There are more than a thousand cars regularly going on line in Moscow. Through the application on the smartphone, the customer can see if there are free drivers in the area he needs. A huge fleet of vehicles is not only a guarantee of quick delivery of transport to the client, but also the possibility of the user choosing a car class and additional options. The service offers for traveling cars of the class "economy", "comfort" and "business" and VIP.
It is not difficult to order the service, since there is no need to indicate your location - the program will detect it automatically. In their reviews of the City-Mobil taxi (Moscow), customers often praise the application function, thanks to which you can call the car to another address, for example, to order a taxi for a person located in the other end of the city. An important bonus is the built-in map of the city, which is very convenient if the exact destination address is unknown or you need to find the nearest metro station.
Attractive for customers and fares on trips within the city. Compared with the rates of other popular taxi aggregators (Yandex.Taxi, Uber, Gett, Luck), City-Mobile offers almost the most favorable conditions. So, for example, the average check of a trip to the airport is 1000 rubles. Cheap users also consider the cost of one minute in the city - 13 rubles. At the same time, 199 rubles will have to be paid for the car and the first 10 minutes. As customers note, fixed prices are a major plus. People also like the ability to choose a payment method: you can make a payment for taxi services in cash or by credit card through the application.
Another tool with which City Mobil expands its customer base is a loyal system of discounts and bonuses. Most users in reviews about City-Mobile consider the so-called cashback a huge advantage - on average 10% of the cost of the trip is returned to the client’s account, which means that next time he will be able to use the refunded funds when paying for the trip.
If there is a delay in the car, unforeseen circumstances or controversial situations, passengers will not have to make a complaint to the driver, spending their time and nerve cells on this. Any difficulties can now be resolved through technical support online. According to passenger reviews, City-Mobile significantly saves time even if the ordered car is delayed: there is no need to call the dispatcher and specify the place of arrival of the car - the current information about the driver’s location is displayed in the program.
About company history
Today the City-Mobil logo is most recognizable in Moscow, however, few people knew about this service about 10 years ago. Then its owner, Aram Arakelyan, became one of the pioneers in the Moscow taxi market, which provides pick-up services through online services.
It turns out that the businessman’s initial idea was to form and maintain a fleet of vehicles. But having carefully thought over, having weighed all the pros and cons (there were more of the latter), the entrepreneur decided to leave the venture and aimed to create a model of a taxi aggregator, which implies joining the work of drivers by obtaining special access to the system.
The goal, which was originally set by the creators of the City-Mobil service, was to provide information to all service participants. According to Arakelyan’s idea, the client should receive information about the drivers who are ready to take him to his destination, and the drivers would be able to see free orders and respond to whatever they liked. Thus, starting in 2008, City-Mobil began to actively develop, programs for taxi services were created, a democratic pricing policy was formed, and service standards were established.
Boost System
Speaking of capital prices, the average driver’s check for the “economy” tariff is approximately 400 rubles, while the trip lasts an average of 25-30 minutes. Tens of thousands of applications arrive per day through the City-Mobile application.
City Mobil taxi reviews often mention upside factors. For drivers, this is a great opportunity to maintain income at a certain level. The increase in tariffs occurs with an increase in demand for taxi services and a decrease in the number of offers at a particular point. The maximum ratio is 3.0. This means that in a period when there are no free cars in a certain area, the cost of the order will be tripled. For example, if at normal times the driver travels a certain distance for 1000 rubles, then at the time the coefficient is applied for the same route, he will be able to get up to 3000 rubles.
However, increasing the coefficient is completely disadvantageous to customers, despite the fact that the tariff increase system is not working as sharply as for drivers. Typically, rates jump:
- during peak hours (from approximately 7.00 to 9.00, when everyone is in a hurry to work, study, etc., and from 17.00 to 19.00 they return home);
- Friday evening;
- rainy weather;
- severe frosts;
- snowfall;
- large events, involving a large crowd of people.
According to Aram Arakelyan himself, increasing the coefficient is necessary not only for the service to earn more. To a greater extent, the increase in tariffs aims to reduce demand, many times exceeding the capabilities of the system.
Is it profitable for taxi drivers to work with City-Mobile?
From the very beginning of his entrepreneurial activity, Arakelyan adhered to the following principle: never to please customers at the expense of taxi drivers. According to drivers about City Mobil, this is true. From the very beginning of work in the Moscow market, the company calculated from taxi drivers about 15–20% of the total cost of the order. At the same time, the service continued to work to create more favorable conditions for drivers. So, for example, a reduction in the commission rate was guaranteed to those drivers who were registered in a taxi fleet as individual entrepreneurs.
In order for City-Mobil to continue to maintain its leading position in the capital's taxi market, it is important to prevent a reduction in the number of drivers. Those who want to earn extra money must be constantly transported: on weekdays, and on holidays, and on weekends, and day and night.
The nuances of cooperation with City-Mobil
There are no supernatural requirements for potential City-Mobil taxi drivers. According to reviews, work can only be obtained if certain documents are available. Otherwise, the company will refuse to provide access to the online service.
In addition to the standard requirements established by law, City-Mobil conducts its internal expertise. Since the specifics of this sector of the service sector implies a communicative contact between the driver and the passenger, the potential driver must pass a test in which elementary knowledge of the city, the degree of Russian language proficiency and the level of intelligence are checked. It is important that the taxi driver can maintain a conversation on general topics, and the client has a positive or at least neutral impression of the trip. To get a job in a City-Mobil taxi in Moscow, the drivers, according to reviews, have to answer questions from the school course in geography, history, literature.
Most of the trips completed are assessed by service. The passenger must choose a point in the application that matches the quality of the service, and if desired, leave a comment to thank the driver or indicate shortcomings in his work. The average rating for taxi drivers is 4.9 points. If the score falls below 4, the driver is temporarily deprived of access to the service.
Schedule
At the moment, each driver connected to the City-Mobil system decides for himself how many hours to work, whether it is time to finish the shift or not. However, the company is in search of a mechanism to track how long a taxi driver has been driving without rest.
If you believe the feedback from employees, thousands of drivers are involved in City Mobil. The company's management is committed to maximum interaction with taxi drivers, creating comfortable conditions for them. The driver should be able to discuss his problems with other people, be an active participant in social relations, possess relevant information and feel part of the community.
How to connect City-Mobile
According to the reviews of drivers, it’s easy to get in a taxi. The first thing to do is decide on the office where you can get an interview. Based on its results, a decision is made to provide the driver with access to the order system or refusal to cooperate. The basic requirements for connecting to the service is the presence of:
- driving experience (at least 3 years);
- citizenship of the Russian Federation;
- licenses for carrying out activities for the transport of passengers and baggage in a car;
- personal car of the comfort class ‚business' or VIP class not older than 10 years (to work under the 'economy' tariff, a foreign car no older than 3 years is required);
- orientation within the city.
In Moscow there are also partner organizations that are empowered to hire drivers. In one of them it is necessary to appear for the test. According to the reviews of City-Mobil employees, 20-30 drivers get a job every day. Immediately before the exam, these documents are checked.
Employment Testing
In reviews of the "City Mobile" taxi drivers note a huge turnover of personnel. Peculiar exams are held almost daily in special classrooms, designed for a large number of seats. The exam itself consists of three stages.
First, drivers must prove that they have sufficient knowledge about the city, are well versed in it. A visitor to get a job in City-Mobile is almost impossible. To evaluate the knowledge of the candidates, each of them is given a leaflet with 20 questions, which they must answer in 5 minutes. Tasks of this type:
- Where is Sokolniki park located in Moscow?
- What metro station is the Moscow Zoo near?
- Which area is south, Cheryomushki or Yasenevo?
- And so on.
The test is considered passed if the examiner makes no more than two errors. According to drivers, a City-Mobil taxi can easily be arranged by someone who often travels around Moscow and has some experience.
After the time allotted for the solution of the test, the answer sheets are taken. At this point, the first stage of testing is considered completed. Those who pass the exam are called the next day and invited to the next round. Despite the fact that the first examination stage is the easiest, as a rule, about half of the participants do not go any further.
Now you have to answer 10 more difficult questions. To get into the City-Mobil taxi (Moscow), according to the reviews of those who passed the second stage of the exam, you need to demonstrate a more accurate knowledge of the city. The tests contain quite complex questions, like the following:
- How many streets are there in the capital?
- about five thousand;
- no more than 3,5 thousand;
- six thousand;
- one thousand.
- Which of the streets is not part of the historic district of Kitai Gorod?
- Solyanka.
- Nikolskaya.
- Barbarian.
- Ilyinka.
- How many boulevards does the Boulevard Ring have in common?
Who has completed the task, goes on. If at least one error is present in the answers, the test is considered failed.
The final stage is an interview with the City-Mobile security service. The company's reputation directly depends on the safety of passengers, so the company sends a request to the archive of traffic violations, finds out if the applicant was previously convicted, etc.
What should be a car
Those who successfully pass the exam are awarded a City Mobile license with a corporate image. To receive orders and start making money on cabs, drivers need to paste over their cars with branding. This is an optional requirement, but still guarantees a certain benefit to the driver. It turns out that machines without City-Mobile identification marks are forced to pay a higher commission, respectively, they cooperate with the service on less favorable terms. After pasting and checking the condition of the passenger compartment, the cars are connected to the base and the corresponding tariff is set.
A taxi car can be in a different color, not just yellow. Cars that drive in a different color are much larger than white or yellow. At the same time, the presence of logos of other companies on the car body is not permissible. It is unlikely that you will be able to ride under other checkers and receive orders from City-Mobile. According to taxi drivers who tried to work according to this scheme, the company blocks the account and denies access to the system.
When connected to the system, drivers are immediately warned of the obligation to keep their cars clean. On the dashboard should always hang a sign with the tariffs of the company. Once a week, the cab driver must undergo photo control: take a few photos outside and inside the car, and then send the image by electronic message. Failure to do so will result in disconnection from the system.
How the application for drivers works
If you believe the reviews, work at City-Mobil is enough for everyone, despite the many thousands of drivers with access to the program. Using the app for drivers is as easy as using the client version. To work in a taxi, City-Mobile, according to reviews, a smartphone with the Android operating system is enough (version no lower than 4.0.3).
When the application starts, the driver’s location is automatically determined, and in accordance with it, the nearest orders are displayed on the screen. The program itself calculates where and where to transport the passenger. The application determines the distance and indicates the size of the commission that the driver must pay. If the order is not completed within an hour, the commission of the service may be reduced to 7%. But, judging by the reviews of work at City-Mobil, this is extremely rare in Moscow - usually the contractor is in 1-2 minutes.
Despite the fact that the company’s management declares an independent order distribution system, drivers themselves note that with a lower rating, the number of available orders is reduced. That is why it is important that customers do not forget to put stars after the trip.
Work organization
According to drivers in Moscow, the application has several modes. The first involves manual sorting of the proposed orders, thanks to which the taxi driver has the opportunity to filter and take the order you like. Criteria are set personally by each driver. You can indicate, for example, the presence of a child seat, consent to transport an animal, a ban on smoking in the cabin, etc.
In addition, in the City-Mobile application, drivers can see the class of the car that the client needs. If a taxi driver has a “comfort” class car, he has access not only to orders where such a car is required, but also to those that are lower in class, that is, “economy”. With the hype and the lack of free cars, the application shows orders of cars of a higher class.
The next mode is the Yellow Robot. Here, the system offers the driver an order one by one. The taxi driver decides whether to do the work or refuse it. So, for example, if the delivery point is more than 5 km and the journey there takes more than half an hour, the taxi driver has the right not to take such an order. The driver does not face any penalties in the form of a downgrade or withdrawal from the line.
The third mode is “Green Robot”, in which the orders assigned by the system cannot be refused. They are assigned automatically. If the driver chooses to work in this mode, he will receive priority in the general queue over other taxi drivers, including drivers who fulfill orders of the Yellow Robot. For non-fulfillment of the “green” order penalties are provided.
Which is better - Yandex.Taxi or City-Mobile?
Regardless of the mode selected, the driver always understands where and for how much he will have to go. At a fixed fare, the cost of the trip and the final destination is displayed immediately. The price may not be set accurately if the client, for example, is not sure about the route of the planned trip. In this case, the navigator calculates the approximate length of the path and calculates the estimated cost. That's how the City Mobile app works.
According to taxi drivers making money with the Yandex.Taxi service, the situation there is completely different. The aggregator completely hides information about any trips from drivers. If a free order appears in the application or is assigned by the system, the cab driver can only see the delivery point. The driver will be able to find out where he will have to go only when he has already arrived at the appointed place. It is often not easy to get to the place of delivery: the maximum allowable distance that the driver can travel to the order is 5 km. Thus, having traveled a relatively considerable distance, the driver is in place, confirms arrival by pressing a button, and the finish point of the route is immediately displayed. If the trip is not profitable, the driver has two options:
- to accept the order and execute it, since arrival at the point of delivery has already caused losses to the driver (he spent a lot of time and fuel, driving 5 km to the appointed place);
- refuse to travel.
In the second case, a rating system is applied against the driver, which in case of cancellation of the trip implies a fall in the main indicators. If you often reject incoming orders, access to the Yandex.Taxi system is limited to two days.
According to reviews, City-Mobile in Moscow is inferior to Yandex.Taxi in the number of requests from customers during the day, but here the driver can immediately determine how much money will be paid for the trip, and if the order is not profitable, then safely refuse it. In addition, a fixed commission rate has been set at City-Mobile, which depends on the class of car: for “economy” - 20%, for “comfort” - 10%, for “business” –10%.
The City-Mobile service has been using the system of “port queues” for a long time. Yandex.Taxi so far only promises to launch this option. Its essence is to provide the right to take a free order line from the airport to the city. Previously, if the driver brought passengers to the airport, he had to stand in line so as not to go back in vain. Now you don’t need to pay for the queue if the taxi driver brought the City-Mobile service client, but if the driver arrived by order of another service, you will have to buy a seat for 150 rubles. Of course, the driver may, for example, not wait until his turn comes up and leave for the next order from another aggregator. In this case, 150 rubles. remain on the account, and the next time the driver gets to the airport again, he will be able to queue for free.
There is a loyal accumulation system for passengers. It works when the driver does not have the opportunity to give change after cash or bank transfer. Let us cite the following situation as an example: the cost of the trip was 480 rubles, and the driver was given 500 rubles. If he does not have suitable coins or notes, 20 rubles will be charged from the cab’s account. and the change is paid to the City-Mobil taxi client. According to reviews, this is very convenient for passengers who can thus accumulate an impressive amount on their bonus account, and for drivers who do not need to look for small money.
If the driver works as an individual entrepreneur, the funds received for the execution of orders by bank transfer are transferred to a bank card without any commission. Judging by the reviews of City-Mobil in Moscow, most taxi drivers prefer to work without advertising car stickers in order to be able to cooperate with other aggregators, including Yandex.Taxi. However, not many people know that City-Mobil pays extra to drivers for advertising the service. Every week, the driver must take photos of his car, confirming the presence of branded stickers on the body. After photocontrol, 1000 rubles are credited to the taxi driver’s balance.
Taxi available to everyone
Positive feedback from customers about City-Mobil taxi, in the opinion of service owner Aram Arakelyan, is the best indicator of the success of his business. About ten years ago, the company was among the few companies that maintained customer feedback. The City-Mobile service, to the surprise of passengers and competitors, was one of the first to start tracking orders with SMS notification. At that time, such an innovation was not even found in every bank.
Initially, the City-Mobile system implied the mandatory participation of a dispatcher. Everything worked according to the standard scheme: the passenger called, the operator accepted the order, the driver received the trip data, arrived at the appointed place, drove the client and received the money, after which he contacted the dispatcher, who deducted a fee for using the service from the taxi driver’s account. But over time, the popularity of City-Mobil grew, there were more and more requests from customers and drivers, it became more and more difficult to manage the system through the control center, so the work was transferred to online mode.
About 90% of incoming orders are processed through the application, but the company is not going to refuse customers who do not know how to use programs on smartphones. To order a taxi, it is not necessary to use the application. The company still employs dispatchers, ready to receive a call and transmit information about the trip to drivers. City Mobile plans to maintain voice support until calls no longer arrive at all.