The app-based cab services company Ola has subjected itself to an aggressive expansion approach lately, and its latest change has been to start outstation travels. The company is known for expanding its services by introducing new categories.
Earlier it introduced ‘Ola Auto’ to compete with the likes of Jugnoo, and then they have cab services ranging from Micro to Prime. The intercity cab travel can be booked from the app two hours in advance. The rates haven’t been disclosed yet.
The new rental service will allow people to take a cab from Ola on an hourly basis, instead of point-to-point transportation. Experts believe that this launch is aimed at reducing car ownership.
In April, it had expanded its affordable service Micro to six more cities that included Ahmedabad, Jaipur, and Bhubaneswar. The move was aimed at overtaking rival Uber in terms of the number of rides. Ola Micro fleet has cars like Datsun Go and Maruti Alto among other compact cars that are extremely suitable for Indian road and traffic conditions.
The Didi-backed company has its presence in 102 cities in the country as opposed to 27 of its biggest rival Uber. Ola has about 3.5 lakh cars in the country and is planning to increase its fleet. Their recent developments indicate that the company is more interested in increasing their privately owned cars rather than employing contractors. The massive increase in complaints about their services may be the reason for this.
The recent investment war going on between the two has raised some chatter. Recently Uber received $3.3 billion investment from Saudi Arabia, for their Indian platform, and Ola has a $1 billion investment panel meet scheduled for next month.
The world’s highest valued startup may have a lot of catching up to do in India, but the massive investment they recently received poses a serious threat to Ola.