Headquartered in Bengaluru, Indian ride-hailing company Ola cabs has accelerated into the bustling streets of London, United Kingdom. Backed by SoftBank’s funding, Ola is launching its operations in London with nearly 25,000 drivers registered onto its platform. The launch was originally planned for last year.
The company plans to expand to other British cities like Birmingham, Bristol, and Liverpool. They are currently present in 28 cities. Their platform will be run in full capacity with these categories: Comfort, Comfort XL, and Exec ride.
The company has expressed that their primary and differentiated focus would be on drivers, safety and associating with local bodies and regulators. They have collaborated with Mercer and Pearson, DriveTech for initiatives that would be directed towards offering a great standard of driving skills, communication between driver and customer service. They have also cleared the Versant Spoken English test to avoid the language barrier.
Read: Ola’s AI-Based Real-Time Ride Monitoring System Arrives In India
Incidentally, this move by Ola comes after competitor Uber loses its license to continue services in London due to safety concerns. Uber and Ola have been in cut-throat competition in India and both the companies are backed by Softbank.
Transport of London granted Ola a one-year Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) License allowing it to operate in the city. This permit is valid till October 3rd this year which completes more than a year after the permit given to Ola in July 2019.
Ola is founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati in 2011 and has been a part of changing the mobility infrastructure of India.
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