Ola slashes fares for Autos by 50% sees massive potential in Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad, February 26, 2016: Ola, India’s leading mobile app for transportation, on Thursday slashed Ola Auto fares in the city by 50%. With this significant drop in tariffs, customers in Ahmedabad can now book an Auto on the Ola app at just Rs. 4 per kilometer. Ola had introduced Autos on its platform in Ahmedabad in early 2015 and today has more than 3,500 Autos registered on the platform. Along with this, Ola has also launched a new billing system that will record the details of the trip including time of booking, distance travelled and fares. Ola Auto customers can now request for a bill on their registered email ids, immediately after the trip. The move falls in line with Ola’s focus on modernizing the Auto hailing process across different cities in India.
Nitesh Prakash, Senior Director - Operations at Ola said, “Ola has redefined the Auto hailing process for customers in Ahmedabad enabling them to book an Auto straight from the Ola app. With increased demand, we have halved the fares for Auto services for customers in the city. This price revision has been possible since we have been able to achieve efficiency from the scale of operations. While driver-partners continue to make more revenue through better utilization and more paid runs, we are passing on the benefit of this scale to customers.” Nitesh further added, “Ahmedabad continues to be one the top markets for Ola Autos and we will continue our focus to make the proposition stronger for both customers and Auto driver-partners alike and furthers Ola’s mission of building mobility for a billion people.”

The conventional process of hailing an Auto-rickshaw is quite cumbersome. With Autos now being available on the Ola App, customers can request a ride without having to step out, with the assurance of travelling at metered fares. Customers can live-track their rides and can also share their ride details with loved ones. Ola Autos are available round the clock in Ahmedabad and upon booking from the Ola App, customers can get an Auto in 5 minutes or less.

Each auto on the Ola platform is powered with a smartphone having the Ola app, that enables driver-partners, access to continuous demand from customers around them. Auto driver-partners are notified of booking requests on their smartphones and are given navigation to reach the customer's doorstep on accepting a booking request. The GPS enabled smartphone also helps customers track their ride in real-time. Use Ola's in-app SOS feature as well as share feedback on their ride at any point in time. All auto driver-partners on the Ola app go through rigorous training across behavioral, etiquette, routes and technology to make the ride experience seamless and consistent for customers.

Ola has over 75,000 auto rickshaws registered on its platform across 9 cities and intends to launch in more cities in the future. Auto-rickshaw driver partners who have registered with Ola across the country, have seen their income grow by up to 40%.