With summer vacations around the corner, ride-hailing services like Uber, Bolt and other services can effortlessly zip you from one place to the other, except during peak traffic hours. In the past, cab used to be expensive, but with the arrival of ride-sharing services, there are more deals than ever for getting around European cities.
Having said that, taxi market is getting crowded in some cities like London and other places with numerous service. The latest entrant to join the London city is none other than ‘Ola’.
Indian ride-hailing company Ola has been granted permission to launch their service in London from London’s transport agency. According to the Indian company, it had received a private hire vehicle licence and planned to launch its service around September.
“London is one of the world’s most iconic cities and hosts a progressive mobility environment,” an Ola spokesperson said. “We are looking forward to building world-class mobility offerings for London, by collaborating with drivers, riders, the government and local authorities.”
Promised greater share for drivers!
Backed by Softbank, Ola will join its competitors including Uber, Bolt, Kapten and ViaVan in London. Having said that, the ride-hailing service has launched in several smaller cities including Liverpool, Birmingham, Cardiff, Reading, Bath, Bristol and Exeter before heading to the capital.
Valued at $ 3.8B!
Apart from the UK, Ola is expanding it’s into other countries like Australia and New Zealand as well. So far, Ola has raised a total of $3.8B in funding over 23 rounds with investors including Hyundai and Kia Motors, Didi Chuxing and venture capital firm Sequoia Capital India.
Ola service in London!
Talking about the service, the company is said to allow black cabs to use the ride-hailing service as well. To ensure safety and security for the passengers, the drivers are screened before they take up the service. In addition to it, passengers have the option of sharing their ride details with emergency contacts through a feature built into the app as well.
Crowded taxi market!
With over 10,000 drivers on the Ola platform in the UK, the company is planning to tie-up with the local government to solve transportation problems via innovative solutions.
TfL has handed over license to Ola to operate for 15 months, as it does with all ride-hailing services and has to seek renewal in October 2020. It’s worth mentioning that, Ola now has more than 1.5m drivers around the world.
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