India’s Ride-sharing Giant Ola Cabs on Thursday declared that it has started offering free rides in Australia’s Melbourne city as a delicate dispatch of its administrations with nearby driver-accomplices.
In a move that will further intensify its battle with US-based rival Uber, ride-hailing Ola today announced that it is set to launch its operation in Australia. The Bengaluru-based company has invited private hire car owners in three Australian cities to begin the process.
“Customers in Melbourne city can download Ola application, register for an account and book their rides,” the city-based online cab aggregator said in a statement here. The company, however, did not specify how many free rides the passengers can avail, and up to what distance, in Melbourne.
On January 30, Ola reported its raid into the universal market to match US-based Uber. It started its tasks in Australia in February beginning with Perth and later in Sydney. “Over the coming months, the rollout of tasks in Australia will proceed with urban areas like Brisbane, Gold Coast, Canberra, Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart,” the announcement said.
Over 15,000 registrations from local driver-partners across Australia have been received so far, it added. “With a low 7.5 per cent introductory commission rate, driver-partners can earn more money and access it easily.
Established in 2011, Ola has been contending with Uber in the Indian ride-hailing market. Ola says it has 125 million customers in 110 urban cities across the nation.