ola Archives | Bangalorean

Car pooling halt in Karnataka – Ola and Uber riders affected

Car pooling or share ride in Karnataka is halted immediate effect. The Karnataka Transport Department on 28th June directed popular cab aggregators Ola and Uber to withdraw car pooling feature from their mobile applications immediately.

While the drivers are happy about the ban on car pooling, the move is likely to affect and disappoint passengers who regularly use share services, known for being cheaper than the regular cab services.

Ola and Uber Services :

Ola and Uber may have had a great year with the homegrown ride hailing service getting funding, while the international company reached its IPO landmark.

But coming as a bump in this glorious path is Karnataka government’s order to both the companies to withdraw their pool services in Bengaluru.

Ola & Uber drivers reaction to halt Car pooling :

The drivers pointed out that both companies did not have the licence to provide carpool service. They had also been protesting against the hassles faced during pooling services, which includes passengers frequently arguing or fighting with each other and issues related to women’s safety.

However, both Ola and Uber said the car-pooling services enables customers to save money and fuel.

Ola’s investment :

Ola has been in the news lately. It recently announced a strategic partnership with Hyundai Motor Group, where Hyundai and Kia Motor Corporation, both part of the same group, will make a combined investment of $300 million in the ride-sharing platform.

Last month, it raised Rs 650 crore in funding from Sachin Bansal, Co-founder of Flipkart. In January, Sachin had invested Rs.150 crore in the company and committed additional funding. The ride-hailing aggregator has already raised $74 million led by Steadview Capital as part of its larger $2 billion round.

Public Reaction :

Ola Share and UberPOOL, the ride-sharing features from the two aggregators, enjoy popularity among commuters and have been hailed as practical solutions to traffic congestion. The transport authority’s previous attempt to ban the carpooling feature in 2017 saw opposition from transport experts.

Public are not happy about the ban of car pooling by the Government. Banning car pooling is definitely not the way out. With last mile connectivity and lack of public transport infrastructure, car pooling is much more better than having 4 different/separate cars on the road.

According to public ride sharing is legal as long as it involves cost sharing and the owner/driver of the said car is not flouting the law to make a profit. Owners of private cars involved in car pooling in India do not require a special permit.

Ola share banned during night :

Recently Ola Ride-Sharing was blocked by taxi aggregator Ola at night between 11 pm and 6 am due to the safety of the passengers and the driver’s earnings.

Commuters will not be able to use ola ride-sharing to work through taxi aggregators ola.

Bengaluru, where Ola is headquartered, is also its single largest market in the country. The city is estimated to have 120,000 cabs, out of which around 65,000 operate on the Uber and Ola platforms interchangeably, state authorities and experts said.

This isn’t the first run-in for a ride hailing firm with the Karnataka authorities.

Recently, Ola and other cab aggregators which operate bike taxis have been facing the heat from the Transport Department. In February, transport officials seized close to 500 such bike taxis for operating illegally.

Car Pooling / Ride-sharing :

Thousands of commuters rely on ride-sharing to get to places as it is affordable. But nobody knows whether it remains permanent. The facility was stopped earlier this week.

The passengers pay 30% to 60% less by sharing the cab with others travelling on the same route.

Road space – car pooling / ride sharing :

The ride sharing or car pooling was well appreciated for its role in reducing congestion by carrying more people in less vehicles. The decision was a disappointing news for a lot of people who work late in the night.

Ola talked about “ease of use”, “lower prices”, and “decongesting cities”, they do not take responsibility for the passenger’s safety. The companies do guarantee passenger safety even after the rider has boarded the cab.

In a country where fake identity proofs are so common, allowing strangers to share rides can be risky.

To know more about Ola self drive service by Ola click on the link https://bangalorean.com/blog/business/self-drive-service-ola-investment-500-million/

Ola Electric Mobility – Investment by Ratan Tata

Ratan Tata invests in Ola Electric Mobility in personal capacity.

Ratan Tata’s investment in Ola Electric is a significant endorsement of the company’s approach to developing an electric mobility ecosystem.

Ola’s announcement :

Ola Electric Mobility announced that Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, has invested in the company as part of its Series A round of funding. This investment is in Ratan Tata’s personal capacity in the newly formed Electric Mobility company.

Tata is also an early investor in ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd, Ola’s parent company. Tata’s investment in Ola Electric is a significant endorsement of the company’s approach to developing an electric mobility ecosystem, including innovations in charging infrastructure, swapping models, and market-appropriate products.

Ola Electric is currently running several pilots involving charging solutions, battery swapping stations, and deploying vehicles across two, three and four-wheeler segments.

Investment details are still under wraps.

Ola Electric Mobility :

The company has a charter to develop platforms and infrastructure to make electric mobility a reality at scale.

Ola-backed Ola Electric Mobility, which develops solutions to make electric mobility viable at scale raised Rs.400 crore in its first round of investment led by several of Ola’s early investors, Tiger Global and Matrix India and others.

The fund raise announcement came just a few hours before the Union Cabinet announced the second phase of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme.

Through FAME, the government is looking to achieve 30% electric mobility by 2030 and has an outlay of Rs.10,000 crore for a period of three years with effect from April 1, 2019.

Indian Market – Electric Vehicle :

Though the market for electric vehicles or EVs is expanding in India, appropriate business models are needed to help create synergy among stakeholders, and leverage their competence and expertise towards a common outcome.

When it comes to Ola Electric Mobility, it was initially established to enable Ola’s electric mobility pilot program in Nagpur. In 2018, Ola subsequently announced ‘Mission: Electric’ to bring 1 million electric vehicles on Indian roads by 2022.

It has identified charging as the first problem in electric mobility and is running several pilots to deploy electric vehicles and charging solutions, including battery swapping stations, electric two-wheeler and three-wheeler services, amongst others.

Raising money by Ola Electric Mobility :

The unit is named Ola Electric Mobility and is described as being an independent business that’s backed by Ola. TechCrunch understands Ola provided founding capital, and it has now been joined by a series of investors who have pumped Rs. 400 crore ($56 million) into Ola Electric. Notably, those backers include Tiger Global and Matrix India — two firms that were early investors in Ola itself.

Ola has taken steps to electrify its fleet — it pledged last year to add 10000 electric rickshaws to its fleet and has conducted other pilots with the goal of offering one million EVs by 2022 — but the challenge is such that it has spun out Ola Electric to go deeper into EVs.

Focus of Ola Electric Mobility :

The new Ola Electric Mobility company has pledged to focus on areas that include charging solutions, EV batteries and developing viable infrastructure that allows commercial EVs to operate at scale, according to an announcement.

In other words, the challenge of developing electric vehicles goes beyond being a “ride-hailing problem” and that is why Ola Electric has been formed and is being capitalized independently of Ola.

Ratan Tata :

Ratan Naval Tata, (born 28 December 1937) is an industrialist, businessman, investor, philanthropist, and a former chairman of Tata Sons who serves as its chairman emeritus. He was also chairman of Tata Group, from 1991 to 2012, and again, as interim chairman, from October 2016 through February 2017, and continues to head its charitable trusts.

He is the recipient of two of the highest civilian awards of India – Padma Vibhushan (2008) and Padma Bhushan (2000). He is well-known for his business ethics and philanthropy

Ratan Tata, said, “The electric vehicle ecosystem is evolving dramatically every day, and I believe Ola Electric will play a key role in its growth and development. I have always admired the vision of Bhavish Aggarwal and I’m confident that this will be part of yet another important strategic move into this new business area.”

Bhavish Aggarwal :

Bhavish Aggarwal (born 28 August 1985) is an Indian entrepreneur and co-founder of Ola Cabs. Aggarwal was born in Ludhiana and grew up in Afghanistan and the UK.

He completed a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 2008. He started his career with Microsoft Research India as a Research Intern and later got reinstated as an Assistant Researcher.

He began his career with Microsoft, where he worked for two years, filed two patents and published three papers in international journals. In January 2011 he co-founded Ola Cabs with Ankit Bhati in Mumbai. In 2015 Aggarwal and Bhati were the youngest to be included in that year’s list of richest Indians.

Ratan Tata invests an undisclosed amount in Ola Electric :

“Tata has been a mentor and an inspiration in shaping Ola’s journey over the years,” said Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Ola.

Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, has invested an undisclosed amount in Ola Electric Mobility (OEM), the electric vehicles project of the ride hailing app. This investment, which is part of OEM’s series A round of funding, is in Ratan Tata’s personal capacity, the Bengaluru-based company said in a statement.

Tata is also an early investor in ANI Technologies, Ola’s parent company. Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Ola said Tata has been a mentor to him personally, and an inspiration in shaping Ola’s journey over the years.

EV Four Wheelers :

The Indian electric vehicle segment is currently ripe for disruption. With the continuous push from the government to ensure 30% electric mobility in India by 2030, both local and foreign companies are making their way into this opportunity. Earlier this week, UK-based electric bike company and lifestyle brand GoZero Mobility also announced plans to enter India.

Of the 2.6 Lakh electric vehicles sold in India as of December 2018 (according to FAME India report) a majority 59% of sales came from two-wheelers. Two-wheeler electric vehicles like Ather Energy, Emflux Motors, Hero Electric have already tasted success in this segment.

Others like Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Toyota Motor Corp and Nissan Motor Co are testing the ground to launch two-wheeler electric vehicles in the country, some as early as 2020.

Conclusion :

Can Ola Electric Mobility deliver on the opportunity? Only time will tell. For now, it has cash in hand, investors who believe in this business and a market with a big opportunity.

To know more about Ola investment click on the link https://www.bangalorean.com/blog/business/sachin-bansal-filpkart-co-founder-ola-cabs/

Ola Ride-sharing – blocked – Bengaluru

Ola Ride-Sharing is blocked by taxi aggregator Ola at night between 11 pm and 6 am due to the safety of the passengers and the driver’s earnings.

Commuters will not be able to use ola ride-sharing to work through taxi aggregators ola.

Ola cabs :

Ola Cabs is an Indian origin online transportation network company developed by ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd. As of December 2018, Ola was valued at about $5.7 billion. A variety of venture capitalists including Softbank have large stakes in the company.

In November 2014, Ola diversified to incorporate auto-rickshaws on a trial basis in Bangalore. After the trial phase, Ola Auto expanded to other cities like Delhi, Pune, Chennai and Hyderabad starting in December 2014.

In January 2018, Ola extended into its first overseas market to Australia and New Zealand in September 2018. In March of 2019, Ola began its UK operations introducing Auto Rickshaws in UK.

The Ola Cab story:

While trying to keep his holiday and tour planning business afloat, Bhavish had to travel from Bengaluru to Bandipur, for which he rented out a car, which ended in a very bad experience.

The driver stopped the car in the middle of the journey and demanded a renegotiation of what Bhavish was paying. After being refused, he proceeded to abandon him enroute his destination.

This is when he realized how his plight was probably similar to a lot of customers across the country who were looking for a quality cab service, but ended up with a one that stood them up, arrived and dropped them off late, didn’t stick to their promises, and came with drivers that were nightmares behind wheels.

This made him see the potential that an extraordinary cab booking service could have, and hence, he changed his business from his earlier start-up to the one we today know as – Ola Cabs. This was in December 2010, where he was joined by his co-founder Ankit Bhati in his start-up journey.

His parents didn’t agree with his idea in the beginning of course, like all parents. They were thoroughly displeased with his decision to become a ‘travel agent’, but when Ola Cabs received it’s first round of funding from two angel investors, they started to believe in the change he was planning to bring.

Ola Founders :

Bhavish Aggarwal- is the ola co-founder and Chief-executive-officer who graduated from IIT Bombay with a B. Tech in Computer Science in the year 2008. Bhavish has worked for Microsoft research, Bengaluru for two years right after college. There, he passed two years with filing 2 patents and 3 research publishing in international journals.

While trying to chase his dream of entrepreneurship, he started an online company to sell short duration tours and holidays online before changing that into Ola Cabs.

Ankit Bhati heads the technical aspects of Ola cabs, ensuring a quick, convenient and instinctive experience for customers and partners. He joined IIT Bombay in 2004 for B.tech in Mechanical Engg and M.Tech in CAD and Automation.

By 2009 he had already worked on several freelance projects and startups like Wilcom, QED42 etc. and finally decided to give up his nomadic professional life for a start-up of his own. He joined the Olacabs journey in November 2010.

Bengaluru – largest market – Ola ride-sharing :

This isn’t the first run-in for a ride hailing firm with the Karnataka authorities.

Ola Ride-sharing :

Thousands of commuters rely on ride-sharing to get to places as it is affordable. But nobody knows whether it remains permanent. The facility was stopped earlier this week.

The passengers pay 30% to 60% less by sharing the cab with others travelling on the same route.

According to Ola the ride-sharing block was taken to balance the value for money and viability for customers and drivers partners.

Ola ride sharing was stopped in Chennai two weeks ago and Ola is planning to do the same in other cities eventually.

POOL and Share have also been opposed by drivers’ unions in Karnataka as they complained that it has brought down incentives of drivers, as customers are charged less when they hail a shared ride.

Road space – ola ride sharing :

The ola ride sharing was well appreciated for its role in reducing congestion by carrying more people in less vehicles. The decision was a disappointing news for a lot of people who work late in the night.

According to Ola officials the decision was taken keeping in mind the safety of the passengers and co-passengers. Recently some complaints about drunken passengers sharing the ride with others creating problem was brought to the notice.

In a country where fake identity proofs are so common, allowing strangers to share rides can be risky.

Ola cab ban :

Recently Ola was banned. Ola cabs ban was Implemented in Bengaluru for 6 months but was revoked later after penalising. The Karnataka Transport Department on 22^nd March 2019 suspended the licence of online cab operator Ola for 6 months in Bengaluru.

This ban came in the wake of ola running its bike taxis while possessing a licence only to run four wheelers.

Ola had a great start to the year – funding, getting the likes of Flipkart Co-founder Sachin Bansal on its board, but it’s legal issues just doesn’t seem to end.

Sanchin Bansal – Investment in Ola :

Bansal has taken up 70588 fully & compulsorily cumulative series J preference shares. The face value of the share is Rs.10 at a premium of Rs.21240 per share.

Ola has raised Rs.520 crore from existing investor Steadview Capital. Sanchin Bansal is also setup up a $1 billion fund, has invested in ola cabs in his individual capacity.

This investment is to be one of the biggest of Sachin Bansal. The investment comes at a time when ola is competing with the global rival Uber in India.

Ola ride-sharing pass :

Share Pass offers the convenience of hassle free daily commute on Ola Share rides with its fixed fares. Share Pass is automatically applied to all Ola Share rides that one takes in Bengaluru city for which the commuter have purchased the pass, provided that the pass fare is lower than the Share fare.

Conclusion – ola ride-sharing :

Incidents of rape and molestation have never stopped doing the rounds with cab-hailing companies. “Women safety can’t be jeopardized”.

According to a ola ride sharing commuter “OLA RIDE SHARING FOR YOU IS CHEAP, HORRIBLE, UNRELIABLE BUT YES COMES AFFORDABLE IF YOU HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO SPEND IN OLA CAB AND HAS NO VALUE TO YOUR TIME WITH NO ONE SICK WITH YOU, You are welcome to take the ride but if your time has value and you have sick people with you then never ever do it”.

Self-drive service – Ola – investment $500 million

Self-drive service introduction by Ola is aimed at broadening its portfolio of transportation solution. Ola to invest $500 million in self-drive service.

The move to enter the self-drive rental service category is in line with Ola’s broader strategy of expanding its bouquet of transport solutions beyond just cabs . It is planning to include scooters and electric vehicles with a view towards ensuring sustainability and positive unit economics.

Ola to deploy nearly 10,000 cars, including luxury sedans and SUVs, in major cities in the coming months.