“We are in a Catch-22 situation,” says Revathi Roy, a shareholder in Viira Cabs, a taxi service in Mumbai that employs only women drivers. “We can’t scale up because we don’t attract investors, and investors are not interested in us because we don’t have scale.”

‘Women’s taxi companies’ such as Viira and Priyadarshini Taxi Service in Mumbai, Sakha Consulting Wings in Delhi and related initiatives in other cities have basked in the glow of good publicity. While one has seen actor Aamir Khan become its pro bono brand ambassador, others have ‘walked the talk’ with journalist Shekhar Gupta or been featured on BBC World, America 24 and other channels. Much continues to be written about their smart, sassy, well-trained drivers from low-income families.

Yet, some of these companies are struggling to make ends meet. Take the case of Viira: its chief executive, and Roy’s fellow shareholder, Preeti Sharma Menon, says the business, started in 2011 with an investment of Rs 1.7 crore (British businessman Lord Ghulam Noon is an angel investor), is running at a debilitating loss.