LiftO, the urban hitchhiking app

Your car guzzles down petrol and releases pollutants into the atmosphere with the aggression of a tiny brick factory. Swapping it for a hybrid doesn’t work because they’re too expensive, and carpooling with friends isn’t feasible unless they share the route or timings of commute. That means you’re stuck in your car by yourself, listening to the decade-old playlist you don’t plan on updating anytime soon and bearing the entire cost of travel by yourself. 

LiftO, a Mumbai-based Android app that started operations last week, seems to be onto something that gives us hope. You sign up on the app with your LinkedIn account (making it easy to spot fake profiles) and ask for or offer a ride to other users of the app based on the route you’re taking. As the personing offering the ride, you get to choose the destination and origin of the commute. 

Depending on the type of vehicle, the prices set by the app are quite affordable. They range from Rs 6 -10 per km. Anyone can offer a ride on LiftO, whether they own an auto rickshaw, kaali peeli or sedan. And when the ride is done, the app sends you a notification of how much you owe, which can be paid via a Paytm account. Keeping the safety of women in mind, the app also lets drivers check a women-only option to notify that they’d prefer to only give lifts to a woman.