Australia soft launch with free rides in Perth with ola

Ola starts Australia soft launch with free rides in Perth
BENGALURU: India’s largest cab-hailing app Ola, which recently announced its entry into Australia, has made a soft launch in Perth as it extends its battle with US-based rival Uber overseas. As a part of the offer, Perth-based customers will be given their first two rides free up to the value of $10 per ride.

Sources at the company claim that there will be plans to partner with driver unions to onboard more drivers and work closely with the Australian government to contribute to local transport solutions. Founded in 2011, Ola provides transportation solutions to over 125 million users in India, through a network of over one million driver partners, across over 110 cities.

The introductory soft launch also includes offers for the drivers, this includes a 7.5% driver commissions as compared to around 20% charged by Uber.


“The idea during the soft launch is to roll out introductory offers to Australian users as an incentive to get them to use the service, then see how they like the service and invite them to provide feedback by leaving a comment on the app, after each ride has been taken. We are learning first hand about consumer and driver behaviour here,” said an Ola employee, speaking anonymously to ET.


The company is offering higher commissions to drivers and more affordable fares to consumers in Australia, beginning with Perth, before it rolls out the service across other cities in the country, early 2018. The company is continuing to on board private hire vehicle owners in Sydney and Melbourne, as well, besides Perth.


Ola announced its entry into Australia at the end of January, when it began rolling out invitations to private hire vehicle owners in the country. At the time, Bhavish Aggarwal, co-Founder of Ola claimed to see immense potential in the country for the cab hailing company. “We are very excited about launching Ola in Australia and see immense potential for the ride-sharing ecosystem which embraces new technology and innovation. With a strong focus on driver-partners and the community at large, we aim to create a high-quality and affordable travel experience for citizens in Australia,” said Aggarwal.
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