NEW DELHI: Ride hailing major Ola on Tuesday announced rolling out a global feature for customers to tip drivers. "Through Ola’s new in-app ‘tipping’ functionality, customers can now include a tip as a token of appreciation for their drivers’ commitment to providing a great ride experience and encourage their efforts towards delivering the same," said Ola in a statement.
Ola claims that drivers will retain 100 per cent of the tip to benefit from the additional earnings.
The feature has been rolled out to all Ola users across India, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Ola competitor Uber had first introduced the tipping feature in the United States in 2017 and has since expanded to it many more states and countries. Uber rolled out the tipping feature to its users in India In January this year.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, our driver-partners worked tirelessly to enable essential travel for all those in need, despite facing their own challenges. As services resume, they continue to personally invest in ensuring the safety of their customers and deliver a comfortable ride experience," said Anand Subramanian, Spokesperson at Ola.
"Linking rewards to higher-quality services, we invite our customers to join us in sharing our appreciation and support them during these trying times. Not only will the new functionality provide an opportunity for drivers to increase their earnings but will also showcase how a small gesture of solidarity and support from customers will drive our driver-partner community to go a long way,” he added
Starting from Tuesday, the cashless tipping feature will appear in the final step of the payment phase and will allow customers to select a fixed or customised amount that will translate to higher earning potential for these drivers.