Fazilka’s dial-a-rickshaw service goes online, gets an Android app
The Ecocabs dial-a-rickshaw project in Fazilka has launched its online web portal (www.ecocabs.org) and an application for Android mobile phones.
In a function organised in the premises of Municipal Council of Fazilka, its President Anil Sethi formally inaugurated and dedicated the website and mobile application by making the first call.
Anil Sethi and Paramjit Warar took a joint ride after calling Ecocabs at Municipal Council Fazilka.
It allows users to search for Ecocabs call centres nearby, based on the user's location. Available in the Android market for free, the application replicates all features of the website and lets the user look at the complete details of Ecocabs operations, contact details of pilots, directions, passenger information system.
The application can be of great use to smart phone users. Talking about the importance of Information technology tools, Dr Bhupinder, founder of graduate welfare association Fazilka (GWAF) said that such a portal and complied information will help other cities follow the Fazilka protocol of Ecocabs.
Fazilka Ecocabs dial-a-rickshaw service was launched in the month of June 2008 and later it was introduced in various cities of Punjab and Haryana.
"Initially the city was divided into five zones and now based upon the latest demand, the city has been divided into nine sectors with almost 1,500 household in each sector. One dedicated call centre has been established. Bharat Sanchar Nigam limited is the official telecom partner for this project," said Navdeep Asija, founder Ecocabs and Secretary (admin) of GWAF. Ashok Felix, a Hyderabad-based Java Web and Portal Technologies programmer and a consulting Android developer volunteered help to make android application for Ecocabs operations at Fazilka, added Asija. The web portal integrated with the Android application is being designed by a city-based 20-year-old computer engineering student Gautam Chaudhary.
Earlier, Sethi said that soon the rickshaw union will get its office and other new sheds in various zones of Fazilka. 
