A travel assistant that solves all woes

Mumbai: An admission to the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) is not only for those who are looking at a fat pay packet after the gruelling five years. But it has also become a den from where entrepreneurs take-off, as an idea is what makes all the difference.

Ronak Gupta from Delhi and Abhishek Aggarwal from Patiala are two such IITians who graduated from IIT Delhi in chemical engineering and computer science engineering respectively, became budding entrepreneurs with their ‘multi modal route planner’ called Routofy. It is a software application that helps users to book door-to-door journeys with a single click.

It was a short stint at the University of Toulouse in France under the semester exchange programme that prompted Ronak to come out with this unique idea that provides a hassle free travel experience to the user. “I was in Europe for few months as part of IIT’s semester exchange programme. I was inclined to travel during my weekends, but found it a little difficult to figure out the most suitable way to reach my destination. Then I realised that the issue is much more complex in India, and this encouraged me come out with this innovation,” said Ronak.

Initially, the duo launched a discovery platform in 2014 when they were still in their last year in IIT. This platform helped users to identify the best modes of transport and they were required to do multiple bookings on their own for each modes of transport. But “January this year, we launched our new mobile app that allows the user to book multiple modes of transport (trains, flights, buses and cabs) with a single click,” said Ronak.

All that a user is required to do is to provide just three key sets of information — sitting location, final destination and date of journey. That’s all. The software, which analyses about 2,50,000 itineraries per second, would provide the user with 50-100 most suitable itineraries. Once the booking gets completed, the mobile app gets converted into a travel assistant providing real time updates about the journey to the user.

Even if there is a delay in the flight or train, Ronak said the traveller doesn’t have to worry about informing the cab. “Everything is automated. Our app would update the cab driver about the delay,” he said. Within in just two months of its launch, about 3,000-4000 users have already downloaded the app. “In another 2-3 months, the number of users are expected to reach 50,000,”  Ronak said and added that around 15-20 corporates have also signed up for the service.
For corporate clients, Routofy has some additional features. For instance, if an employee has to book a travel package, he need not go to the sanctioning authority. The app automatically notifies the concerned person. “The transaction will get completed only when the supervisor approves the package,”  said Ronak.