Tootle Pro is a subscription model for saving on ride commisions

Tootle is Nepal’s first ride-hailing app, launched way back in 2017. Despite doing well in the beginning days, Pathao entered the competition, followed by Indrive, bringing tough competition to this Nepali service. But Tootle is doing all it can to get back in the scene. Now, we have the Tootle Pro, a subscription-based model for its fellow riders. Here in this article, we’ll talk about all the details about Tootle Pro and its benefits for the riders.

Tootle Pro Overview:

About Tootle

Before heading in, let me give a small intro about Tootle. As aforementioned, Tootle was launched in 2017, when the ride-sharing concept was still fresh as a sprout. It marked wide public attention, as using the taxi service was not feasible for a commoner, as the charges were just too high—even for a short distance. Tootle saw this opportunity and entered right through, providing an excellent alternative to book a ride at a much cheaper cost and just reach your destination even quicker by bike.

Things were running quite cool until the arrival of Pathao in 2018, which rigorously marketed itself to garner more customers. Then, inDriver (currently inDrive) landed here, bashing its way with a superinteresting option— “Bargaining”. And Tootle had to vanish from the scene until 2023, when it emerged again. Since then, the revival game has been going on. And now we have the Tootle Pro model, which we’ll be talking about below.

Tootle Pro, a Subscription model

So, what exactly is Tootle Pro? Well, it’s a subscription-based model for its riders. By subscribing to this service, riders won’t have to pay commission, at least for 28 days. Tootle is offering an introductory subscription fee of NPR 499 for bike riders and NPR 999 for the cab drivers. Just pay that amount and drivers can retain their ride earnings, however, it excludes standard insurance and TDS deductions.

Once the subscription period concludes, riders have the option to either renew their plan or switch back to the standard commission model. Which is 15% for bike rides and 12% for the taxi ride. Tootle states that this initiative is designed to provide more predictable earnings and improved transparency.

Tootle Pro: Is it worth it?

Okay, let’s do some maths to find out if Tootle Pro is really worth it for the riders or not. For a bike rider, let’s assume that he does 3 rides a day with 150 rupees per ride on average, then his total gross income in 28 days would be NPR 12,600. Let’s do a 15% commission rate on that, it would be NPR 1,890. Which is almost 4 times the NPR 500, which is the fee for Tootle Pro.

And as this model is available for a cab as well, we just can’t spare doing some maths for the cab riders. So, suppose a taxi driver does 3 rides a day at NPR 500 maximum, his gross income for 28 days would be NPR 42,000. And charging a 12% would be NPR 5040. So, here as well, paying NPR 999 sounds a much wiser thing, doesn’t it?

• Also Read:
  • InDrive introduces a new “Comfort” feature for more comfortable taxi rides
  • I became an InDrive rider and here’s what I found! [including income]
  • JumJum ride-sharing app officially launched in Kathmandu valley

But we should also consider that these are the introductory offers. But even when the subscription models go up to NPR 999 for bike riders and NPR 1,999 for cab drivers, it still makes sense for both.

Tootle Pro: Final Thoughts

The ride-hailing scene in Nepal is getting even more competitive. With Indrive reigning as the king with a bargaining feature, Pathao has still managed to gain the trust of customers. And another ride-sharing app, “Yango” has launched with its super aggressive, cheaper fares. So, it’s going to get hard for Tootle. But yeah, the introduction of features like Tootle Pro marks a major advancement for Nepal’s ride-hailing industry, giving drivers greater control over their earnings, enhanced transparency, and more consistent financial planning.