Shuttl’s loss versus revenue: Spent over Rs 15 to make Re 1

Super Highway Labs-owned Shuttl, an app-based on-demand shuttle service has suffered a loss of $8.21 million in fiscal year 2015-2016, according to the Registrar of Companies filings. The company made the RoC filings with MCA during early this year.

The company’s total revenue stood at $565,000 with a total expenditure of $8.77 million. In other words, it lost Rs 15.52 to earn Re 1.

The immense loss has been reported at a time when the company is swiftly expanding the business in Delhi-NCR.

The Gurugram-based firm has reportedly scaled to 10 per cent of the total size of DTC fleet in the past two years. The platform now claims to employ 450 buses plying on about 75 routes in NCR.

In a media interview, co-founder Amit Singh said the company plans to scale its fleet to at least 700 by the end of the ongoing financial year. It is also expecting to hit a monthly sales run-rate of Rs 10 crore.

However, for Shuttl, the path to growth is not going to be that easy as the company is facing various regulatory issues with state governments.

A few months ago, the transport department of Delhi government impounded over 50 Shuttl buses for permit violations. Besides, the department also threatened the two co-founders of Shuttl for ‘illegally’ plying buses in the national capital.

In defence of the impounding, a senior official in the State Transport Ministry stated that these private buses are contract carriers and cannot act as stage carriers to pick up individual passengers as it leads to safety concerns, besides congestion and pollution.

However, this is not the first time when the app-based company has come at loggerheads with state authorities.

Earlier, Haryana authority had also impounded Shuttl’s buses citing the law the company is running buses without permit in Gurgaon. The authority said the company does not have the permit of a stage carrier, yet they are running operations like this.

Last month, probably addressing the safety concerns of state governments, the company launched ‘Shuttl S.A.F.E.’ (Secure Anxiety Free Experience), a project which provides multiple safety checks to every commuter through embedded technology features that also ensures responsible behavior by its bus captains.