Ather Energy joins hands with Bounce for scooter sharing program

Ather Energy and Bounce have announced a partnership to encourage the use of electric vehicles. The companies have teamed up together for their new 'Peer to Peer' (P2P) scooter sharing app that enables individuals to rent an Ather 450 by the Bounce app during the lockdown.

Bounce earlier introduced the 'ScooterHero' program to help the frontline workers like healthcare workers, delivery partners, or civic authorities. This partnership between the two companies only takes that initiative further. The app has been launched in Bengaluru from May 26 and a scooter can be booked on the app for just Rs 499. 

The program basically lets Ather 450 owners list their vehicle on the Bounce app and earn an additional income. The scooters are returned to the owners by the Bounce customers after use. Customers can book the scooter on the Bounce app and it can be rented for hours or days as the owner has listed. Owners will be remunerated by Bounce when their scooter is rented.

Ather Energy is the first electric bike maker to partner with Bounce to make their products available by such an initiative. The initiative focuses on making the electric scooter easier to rent out instead of owning it for just personal use. The scooter must have commercial registration to be listed on the Bounce app. And Ather Energy has introduced a new post-purchase plan that includes service and maintenance plans for wear and tear of multi-rider usage. The connected feature of the vehicle notifies the owner about the status of the vehicle on a regular basis.

Tarun Mehta, Co-founder and CEO at Ather Energy said, "We have always offered unique purchase models that have been designed to make ownership hassle-free. This partnership with Bounce allows our owners to decrease their overall cost of ownership and break even on their investment faster. The Ather scooters are designed on a connected and intelligent platform and the transition to a rideshare use has been seamless. The connectivity will increase the confidence of Ather owners and Bounce renters both, to sign up for the program."

Vivekananda Hallekere, Co-founder and CEO at Bounce said, "The current way of owning a vehicle and using it only for few hours a day puts a lot of stress on the entire eco system including parking. Bounce brings in trust to enable people share assets. During times of COVID when public transport won't be ideal, driverless solutions will help move people. It will also enable people to generate cost from existing assets."