Hpmegrown ride-hailing giant, Ola, has wasted no time in commencing its operations in London, especially when rival Uber’s operations is at risk after regulators revoked its license to operate in the UK capital for the second time in less than three years, expressing safety concerns.
The Bengaluru-based unicorn said it has begun registering drivers on the platform and the operations will soon begin in the city. "Over 50,000 licenced drivers will now be assured that they can continue to provide mobility services in London," said Ola.
Uber which disrupted the public mobility ecosystem in London soon after it commenced operating in the city in 2012 had acquired a major chunk of the market share with more than 45,000 drivers on board amidst some fierce competition from Germany and Israel-based ride hailing start-ups.
Ola, on the other hand, has expanded to Australia and New Zealand, apart from the UK after competing with Uber on an equal footing in India. It has also consolidated its presence in other UK cities such as Birmingham, Liverpool, Cardiff last year.
While announcing the commencement of its London operations, Ola stressed that its 24x7 helpline would be made available to the passengers to ensure a safe ride and that the firm would be fully-compliant with the the public regulatory authority, Transport for London (TfL)’s guidelines. Rival Uber, meanwhile, had lost its license after Tfl found that its app was being used by the unregistered drivers which compromised with the safety of the passengers.
Drivers were found to be using the pictures of those who were already registered on the Uber platform, on their accounts. The Bhavish Aggarwal-led company said that it has adopted the industry-first facial recognition technology for authentication of the driver’s identity and several other measures such as in-app emergency button to alert the Ola team as well as storing various identity proof documents of the drivers.
"Today, we are inviting the tens of thousands of PHV drivers across London to register themselves on the Ola platform, as we prepare to launch in the city in the coming weeks. We have built a robust mobility platform for London, which is fully-compliant with TfL’s high standards," it said.
The company also claims to have had constructive conversations with the authorities, drivers, and local communities in London over the past months. "We look forward to contributing towards solving mobility issues in innovative and meaningful ways," Simon Smith, head of international operations, Ola informed.