Ola mobile application to book cabs, now available in Ludhiana and Amritsar!

Ludhiana, November 7, 2014: Ola (formerly Olacabs), India’s most popular mobile app for cab booking, today announced the launch of services in the cities of Ludhiana and Amritsar. Ludhiana and Amritsar become Ola’s 2ndand 3rd cities in Punjab after Chandigarh. Customers can book cabs through the Ola mobile application for Android, iOS and Windows and can also book a cab by calling 0161 - 33553355. The Ola app currently has over 36,000 cars available across 20 cities, making it the largest as well as the fastest growing cab booking app in India.

Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-founder and CEO, Ola said, “Ludhiana is my hometown and it gives me immense pleasure to implement a world-class travel solution developed by my team, in my city. We have seen very enthusiastic adoption of the Ola app by customers and drivers across the country and are excited that the city of Ludhiana will now benefit from this technology. Customers would now be able to book a cab by just pressing a button through our app! Easy and on-demand availability will ensure more customers will use cabs for more reasons thereby increasing demand for cabs in the city. We look forward to more and more commuters using our service!”

“The biggest impact, however, will be felt by the drivers in these cities. Most of the drivers on the Ola platform are young and entrepreneurial. Our app can have a significant revenue impact with drivers in similar cities seeing an increase of as much as 40% once they are on the platform” added Bhavish.

Plans for Ludhiana

Ola has over 100 cabs signed up in Ludhiana and plans to increase the number of cabs on its platform to 200 within the next 6 months.Customers can book an AC sedan for Rs 15 per km. The minimum fare is also low at Rs 49 for the first 2 kms. “In every city we strive to deliver the best services to our customers. Drivers are a vital part of the Ola eco-system and we will extend all the benefits that our driver partners get across 20 cities in India. We are working towards creating a robust supply side ecosystem and are confident that many existing and aspiring drivers in Ludhiana will grow as entrepreneurs with Ola”, added Anand Subramanian, Director- Marketing Communications at Ola.

Ola’s focus over the next 1 year is to create an eco-system to nurture micro-entrepreneurship among drivers in existing as well as new cities. For this purpose, Ola has tied up with car manufacturers like Tata, Ford, Mahindra, Maruti and Nissan across cities to help drivers buy cars from them directly at discounts of up to Rs. 1, 00,000. The company has also tied up with financial institutions to ensure that drivers are able to procure loans for buying their own cars easily.

Ola makes a sizeable difference to the revenues earned by cab owners and operators by improving efficiency, optimizing cab inventory and reducing idle time.Ola also conducts regular car audits, driver training and sensitization sessions to ensure standardized service delivery and customer experience.

Ola’s mobile app

The Ola mobile app is the first of its kind that lets users book a cab with one touch. The mobile app, which is available on Android, iOS and Windows, shows the available cabs nearby and the ETA of the closest cab. On booking, customers get a confirmation in real-time along with booking details like the driver’s name, number, car make and vehicle number. The app also tracks and shows the movement of the cab to the customer’s pickup location on a map in real time. These features aim to make city travel safe, convenient and reliable.The recent update also brings the option of cashless payments for customers by recharging through a prepaid wallet.

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