Sakhi Auto In Bengaluru: How To Book, What It Costs & All About The Women-Only Auto

On February 14, while the city was busy with Valentine’s Day plans, a different kind of soft launch rolled out across Bengaluru. Pink-and-blue autos marked “Sakhi Auto” began operating, driven by women, for women. The service is live, the bookings are active, and rides are happening now.

What Is Sakhi Auto And Who Came Up With This Initiative?

Sakhi Auto was conceived by Krishnavi Parekh, who has openly linked the idea to her own experiences of feeling unsafe while travelling alone. Instead of framing the issue as abstract “urban safety,” she chose a direct solution and built a women-only auto network that removes the anxiety many commuters silently carry.

Timings & Prices Of Sakhi Auto In Bengaluru

The operating window is currently 6 AM to midnight, seven days a week. Expansion to 24-hour service is planned if demand supports it.

There is no surge pricing and no peak-hour multiplication. Furthermore, the fare structure is fixed:

• ₹50 for the first 2 kilometres
• ₹20 for every kilometre after that

That places it in line with standard auto pricing while offering a controlled, women-only ecosystem.

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How To Book These Autos?

Bookings for these women-only autos are handled through:

• The website: ride.sakhiwomen.in
• WhatsApp: 63619 33364

A dedicated mobile app is under development. For now, riders book digitally but without app-based live tracking.

The Drivers & Early Operations

According to The Hindu, at launch, around 50 women drivers, aged between 21 and 40 and with prior driving experience, were onboarded. During the initial phase, drivers receive their full earnings from rides. A commission model may be introduced later.

Before the February 14 rollout, a January pilot completed 17 trips. That limited test run helped operationalise the system before scaling.

Some reports indicate that the long-term vision is significantly larger, with plans to expand the fleet in phases. If that materialises, availability during peak hours and late evenings could become a key strength.

Early Riders Share Reviews

One Bengaluru commuter who travelled from Basavanagudi to Indiranagar described the experience as calm and punctual. There was no aggressive driving, no last-minute cancellations, no uncomfortable small talk, just a straightforward ride.

Riders currently need to book in advance, sometimes up to an hour in advance, and in-app live tracking is not yet available. For spontaneous travel, that can be inconvenient. One Redditor shared how they booked their auto approximately 1 hour before, but still, no driver was allocated, as they said that the fleet was limited.

But all in all, the early sentiment suggests that predictability and perceived safety are outweighing those gaps, at least for now.

Urban mobility is rarely just about distance. It is about confidence, especially for students, night-shift employees, and working professionals who depend on autos after dark.

Sakhi Auto enters that space with a clear positioning; it is not cheaper, not faster, but definitely safer.

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Two weeks after its launch, the real test is no longer whether Bengaluru needed it, the question now is whether it can scale without losing what made it appealing in the first place.

Cover Image Courtesy: kannanO243387/X