Indian Ride-Hailing Service Ola Is About To Conquer London

Last year, Ola opened an office in London, and now the Indian ride-hailing company announced that it will begin its service in the city on February 10. London is among the largest ride-hailing markets in the world, and the expansion to this city is a major development in the international strategy of Ola as the firm is raising its game to better compete with Uber.

According to Ola, its service will go in full operation “from day one” in London, since late November 2019, the firm has signed up over 20,000 drivers in this city.

Up to now, the Indian ride-hailing firm has raised around $3.5 billion, emphasizing that its platform comes with various security features, for example, a 24/7 helpline for customers and drivers, as well as an emergency button in its app.

Safety is currently a sensitive topic across the world, especially in London, probably why Ola took extra time before launching its service here even though it got the license in July 2019 and entered the region the year before.

This is a big lesson for Uber, which aggressively expanded its business to London but failed to comply with the safety guideline, costing it the license in this city. Uber’s license was stripped of for the second time in late 2019 because the firm didn’t meet the fit and proper requirements for private operators. Specifically, the firm was found to conduct more than 14,000 trips with drivers that had fake identities.

Ola, on the other hand, Ola says that the company will keep working closely with local authorities and regulators, focusing on safety, to build the best practice in the industry and in the world.

Besides, the Indian ride-hailing firm states that for the first six weeks, it won’t charge drivers. Like Uber, Ola charges drivers 20-25% commission on the final amount paid by a rider.

According to Ola International Head Simon smith, the service has achieved a really good reception since its launch in the United Kingdom in 2018. The firm offers its service in 28 boroughs in the country including Warwick, Coventry, and Birmingham. As of now, the company has conducted over 3 million rides, having over 11,000 drivers operating on its platform in the country.

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