Months after entering the UK market, Indian ride-hailing platform Ola has expanded its services to three new cities in the UK namely Liverpool, Birmingham, and Reading, after local councils granted the platform with both Taxi and Private Hire licenses.
Celebrating the launch, Ola offered customers in Liverpool free rides on green tuk-tuks last week in a limited time period, as a part of the promotional campaign.
Ola says that it is the only app that offers black cabs and Private Hire Vehicles (PHVs), giving both driver-partners and users more choice. In a bid to bring more drivers on to the platform, Ola offers the highest share of revenue, charging just 10% commission to black cabs and 15% to PHVs, compared with 25% charged by competitors.
To encourage inclusivity for its drivers, Ola has also committed to making black cab and PHV ride options attractive to app users by ensuring that they are competitively priced. Ola claims that Black cabs will not have peak pricing, meaning that they will be cheaper when PHVs are in high demand.
“We are delighted to launch our services in Birmingham, Liverpool and Reading thus solidifying Ola’s presence across 7 large metropolitans in the UK. Thanks to the positive word-of-mouth from both driver-partners and passengers who experienced our offerings in Cardiff, Bristol, Bath, and Exeter, we received requests from users across the UK to introduce the Ola platform in their cities. Ola is leading the way with driver benefits and is the only inclusive app in the country, to include black cab drivers into our dynamic fleet,” Ben Legg, Managing Director of Ola UK, said in a statement.
“We are determined to work with local authorities to help communities grow and achieve enhanced transportation access, safety and mobility goals across UK cities,” he added.
Following the launch of Ola in Cardiff in August 2018, the company was then started operations in Bristol in October 2018, followed by Bath and Exeter in November 2018. Ola’s arrival in Liverpool, Birmingham, and Reading completes the launch of seven cities in the UK in seven months, with many more planned across North England and the Midlands in the coming months.
Ola said in a statement that it is committed to ensuring passenger safety in the UK including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and screened drivers. Customers will also enjoy competitive pricing, as well as 24-hour safety support with Ola’s in-app customer care and emergency service.