Vehicle care is a growing business in India, and apart from Authorised Service Centres (ASCs), there are several startups offering premium car care. Such startups offer services and end-to-end solutions that are on par with ASCs, and with their technological approach, the business idea is becoming a success.
One among them is Raasta Auto Tech, based in Gurgaon. To learn more about what Raasta offers, Express Mobility spoke to Karn Nagpal, the Founder of Raasta. Raasta offers a one-stop solution to two and four-wheelers of all kinds, and we learn more.
There are so many organized third-party players right now in the same business. What are you going to do differently?
Despite many other players in the industry, there is a dearth of those covering the whole 360 degrees of vehicle care. From standardized vehicle servicing, repairing to accessories, from tyres and battery replacements to extended warranties, from Road Side Assistance to At Home services, and finally ensuring high-quality OES spare parts, Raasta will be the one-stop-shop for all vehicle-related needs a customer could wish for.
Needless to say that with our standardized garage partner network, the consumer gets the same service/standards every time, irrespective of their location or the partner garage they choose. Our focus remains on creating a holistic customer experience and building a one-stop-shop for one’s vehicle needs.
Adding more to the customer experience, RAASTA aims to make the process of insurance claims convenient and frictionless for its customers. Currently, the process takes excessively long with cumbersome steps, even for small claims. RAASTA is working with multiple insurance companies to use technology to process these claims quickly and swiftly.
How can a customer get in touch with you? Any early bird discounts on offer? Which all cities will you be present in and plans of expansion?
We are mobile-first and our app is available on the google play store and IOS. For our more traditional customers, we are available on the channel of their choice such as a customer experience centre, emails, chat and web. We are offering exclusive promotions and discounts to early adopters of our app.
We are set to launch the services in Delhi & NCR in the coming week. However, the plans are to be present in 30 locations by the end of the year with a special focus on Tier 2 and 3 cities. Our services will also be available through various alliance partners in the coming times.
Where do you source the parts from? Can a customer source a part from you for cheaper, or will it be the same rate or more than outside?
We source parts from all reputed OES manufacturers. Our priority is to make sure that the parts are of the highest quality for the best prices. At the quality/standards we provide, we believe that we will be very competitive in our pricing. Spare parts cannot be directly purchased by customers but are supplied to our garage partners who in turn provide them to the end customer.
Is there a guarantee or warranty on the service that has been done on the vehicle? Do you also undertake body repairs?
We give a 6-month guarantee on all our services, whereas different warranties are provided for different spares, accessories, repairs etc. For eg., We give 2 years warranty on paints, 6 months on services etc. We do undertake body repairs, however, the same is done only at Raasta Partner Garages, where we ensure that all standards are maintained.
What about the insurance and will Raasta be involved in getting it for the customer?
Yes, this is one of the customer’s biggest pain points that we aim to solve. We want the customer to have a frictionless experience while claiming insurance and getting the work delivered in the shortest possible time, without having to wait for the insurance clearances.
Where have your technicians been trained? What kind of courses were they made to undergo?
We have made sure that all technicians at our Partner Garages are well qualified and have the requisite equipment and infrastructure to provide the best quality services. We also run a training program for all garage partner technicians through our experienced resources. The garage partners are also backed by our team of technicians.
The team is not only experienced, but we also have a rigorous internal training program being run by veterans of the industry before inducting the said technicians into the process. We do run a quality and inspection program to make sure that the garage partners deliver the committed services in time and as per the quality standards claimed by us. We run regular training sessions to update the technicians on the new technologies being introduced in the automotive sector.