CHENNAI: Sharing might be caring. But it will now also cut down your cab rates by as much as half. India's market leader in cab mobility solutions, Ola, officially launched its cab-pooling service in the southern metro today morning.
Ola Share takes the age old tradition of carpooling and applies it to the fast burgeoning taxi cab sector in the country. By putting their 30,000 plus cab fleet in the city up for their users to share rides, Ola is promising both users and drivers on their platform a simple but significant economic benefit.
"We have been operating the platform in four cities so far and Chennai is the fifth. In all of them, we are seeing high adoption rates because of a simple thing - significantly cheaper fares per person. Ola Share fares can be up to 50 - 60% lower than normal rates," said Ola's Anand Subramanian, Senior Director of Marketing Communications to the Express.
And drivers are getting their own motivation to sign up for Ola Share while plying for the platform. If Ola is to be believed, drivers in the four other cities where Ola Share has been operational so far have seen earnings increase from 25 - 30%. "It offers a lot more utilisation of time for the driver with all the consequent financial benefit. We are seeing drivers and their cabs occupied consistently," said Subramanian.
But how does it work? Ola Share has just become another tab on the Ola app that users tap to access. The firm has thrown it open to over 40% of their user base in the city during the first day and is set to ramp it up to 100% in a phased manner.
Unlike its competitor Uber's UberPool, Ola Share has neatly circumvented a problem that has plagued car sharing platforms in the country. People are just too leery to travel with strangers, even with the economic fillip it provides. Ola Share however, offers users the option of creating Social groups on the app, invite people and then share rides with only those groups.
For example, users could create a group for their office or college and Ola will set it up. New additions to the groups will have to verify with office email IDs to join the group. Alternatively, users can also set up custom groups or select the option to travel with anyone. "The choice to travel with people they are comfortable with, even if they don't actually know them, is what we are giving them," said Subramanian.
Ola launched its services in Chennai in 2013 and the city is the second fastest growing market for Ola after Bangalore. Chennai will be the fifth city, after Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore, to have Ola Share and the firm is set to expand the offering to 20 cities across the country over the next six months. Ola is also offering customers in Chennai a 50% discount on the service over the first month.
How to Share:
* Ola Share appears on the Ola app as a separate category tab.
* On sharing the drop location, the Ola app uses advanced algorithms to match users from common social groups, looking for a cab on the same route, in real time.
* When additional users en-route are identified, the driver’s device gets an alert with navigation to their pickup location within minutes, to join the ride.
* A maximum of 3 people can share a cab together via Ola Share.
* Users can join office of college social groups on verification through an official email ID.
* They can also request Ola to create a custom social group.
* All of Ola’s safety features including Track your Ride, Share Ride Details, SOS, Emergency Contacts, 24x7 Customer Support and In-trip feedback are available on Ola Share as well.