Meet the startups that are setting up smart toilets on highways for travellers

Highway expansion projects across the country are getting an aggressive push. There's anticipation about shorter travel time between cities.

One predicament has remained unchanged, one that female travellers face on the roads.  Filthy highway public restrooms are the nightmare of every woman who's ever hopped onto a bus or a car for a long-distance journey.

A cluster of startups is pitching to make a change. Sanitation startups Lavato, Travlounge, Lootel and Eloo are setting up smart toilets along highways with some even equipped with sleeping pods and charging stations for electric vehicles (EVs).

Such smart toilets have already been installed in places like Krishnagiri (Bengaluru-Chennai highway), Walayar (Tamil Nadu-Kerala border), Indore in Madhya Pradesh, Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Santiniketan in West Bengal.

Moneycontrol lists four startups that are making a difference in the lives of travellers, especially women. Most of these startups have a common motivation at the heart of their genesis -- the ordeal of a wife or girlfriend who couldn't access a clean public toilet.

Lavato's premium lounge at Bandarapalli village (Krishnagiri in Tamil Nadu) on NH44, operational since October 2018, has received more than 1,300 reviews and 4.5 ratings on Google Maps so far.

Lavato is run by Bengaluru-based startup Clean Quest Services Private Limited, which currently has one service outlet on NH-44.  “We plan to build high-quality public lavatory service, predominantly on highways, tourist places, pilgrimages, cities and shopping malls,” founder Naveen Singh said.

“We picked NH-44 (Krishnagiri) for our first unit since it’s a busy highway with no well-maintained toilets on the stretch, especially for female travellers. An average of 150 customers use our services per day during weekdays and 300 on weekends".

Lavato’s Krishnagiri facility is a lounge with premium pay and use toilets, separate toilets for transgenders, differently abled and children, shower rooms, sleeping pods (hourly-based rentals), a convenience store, work-station, eat-your-own food dining table, parking area and so on.

The startup charges Rs 30 per person for toilet usage and Rs 200 per person for a shower. It also has sleeping pods available at an hourly rental (starting from Rs 150 to Rs 400 for a maximum of six hours).

Singh lists high maintenance costs and finding human resources as his primary challenges. Lavato is planning 80 outlets across the country in two years.

"We will set up such kiosks at Hampi and Skandagiri in Karnataka. Some regional restaurant brands have also offered space for launching toilet and lounge services. We have planned the expansion through franchise models and alliances with strategic travel, tourism & restaurant chains/ companies and government departments".

Travlounge, an initiative by Kerala-based Beacon group and AZCCO Global, recently set up a premium roadside restroom at Walayar in Palakkad (Salem-Kochi highway).

PT Safeer, co-founder of Travlounge, said the company had already done a soft launch of the facility and a formal inauguration will be scheduled this month. “The response from the public has been overwhelming so far and we already have more than 100 daily users".

According to Safeer, it will have facilities like a mini-mart for travel essentials, a cafe, business class lounge facilities, sleeping pods for travellers to take power naps and a car wash facility, EV charging spots, a parking facility, first aid, security services and free Wi-Fi.

Safeer said the company is planning five facilities in Kerala before expanding to other parts of the country.

"During trips, I noticed female passengers struggling for clean toilets. That’s how it struck me as a necessity. Women sometimes drink little/no water because of the lack of washroom facilities on highways. It’s so sad and pathetic. There have been so many improvements in infrastructure but no change in the condition of public toilets. We decided to treat it as a challenge and be of help to female travellers," he added.

Raipur-based sanitation startup Eloo founder Diptendu Roy, decided to set up public toilets after his then-girlfriend, now wife, had a harrowing experience on a road trip.

“We were travelling from Jagdalpur to Raipur in Chhattisgarh and since there were no public toilets she had to relieve herself behind some bushes. It was an eye-opener for me," Roy said.

He started Eloo in 2018 and piloted their first women's facility corner in Santiniketan, West Bengal, funded by the district administration of Birbhum.

“The response has been positive, with around 100-120 people using our services on weekends and 50-80 people on weekdays. Our expansion plans involve launching Eloo women's facility corners at certain intervals along highways across the country and other tourist spots which receive more female footfalls,” Roy said.

Currently, Eloo is running operations in coordination with a self-help group federation in Santiniketan and charging Rs 30 per user.

"Each Eloo lounge has three toilets for women, one breastfeeding room, one gender-neutral-cum-accessible toilet with a bathing facility. We are in talks with banks to set up ATMs and also SHG-run cafe provides refreshments,” said Roy.

Maintaining toilets is Roy’s primary concern. “Setting up washrooms is one thing, but keeping them usable is another. To address this issue, we've created an IOT-based toilet tracker with the help of IIT Mandi. This tracker provides information on water level, humidity, ammonia concentration (detects urine smell), and the number of users at specific times of the day. This information helps us optimise the schedule for the maintenance of the toilets" he said.

Bhopal-based startup Lootel of Dot Box Conception Pvt. Ltd (DBCPL), founded by Yashwant Suthar, an industrial designer who graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology- (Delhi), has installed IOT restrooms in Indore, Bilaspur and Rameswaram.

It provides commercial services like EV-charging, refreshments (premium quality clean and hygienic restroom services) and Refuel (food and beverages). Suthar’s starting point for the idea too was much like Roy’s – born out of a loved one’s ordeal.

Suthar’s wife Neelam Singh (Lootel co-founder) had an agonising time looking for a clean public toilet during a bus journey a few years ago. Since the public washroom that the bus stopped by around midnight was stinking and flooded with sewage, Neelam was forced to look for another one nearby at that unearthly hour. While doing so, she was followed by drunkards in the poorly-lit street and Suthar managed to chase them away. The experience left Neelam shaken and disturbed. It eventually led to Suthar quitting his job at a multinational company to work towards setting up public toilets.

Their dream is to build 1,000 complete self-sustainable public toilets across India in the next five years.

"We are going to start a lounge facility next month in Rishikesh and Vrindavan. We charge Rs 25 for the washroom and Rs 250 for a shower. While travelling on the highway, availability of clean toilets is uncertain. Almost always disappointing. We are adopting technology for operation, feedback, monitoring, and analytical processes,” said Suthar.