Ola has announced the launch of Ola Driveself-drive car-sharing service in India. The service is currently available in Bengaluru and will soon make it to New Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
The news comes as a move to rival ZoomCar and Revv which have already established self card driving services in the country. Ola says that it plans to host a fleet of 20,000 cars by 2020 which will be 50 percent more than the fleet size of the entire industry.
Ola Drive will offer the company’s connected car platform ‘Ola Play’. Ola Play will feature a 7-inch touchscreen with GPS, media playback, and Bluetooth connectivity. Users will have access to Ola support and safety features including 24/7 helpline, emergency button for immediate call and real-time tracking.
Users can choose to book a car of their choice for as little as two hours. Ola will also offer road-side assistance to Ola Drive users for a secure and comfortable driving experience.
Ola Drive will be available as an option at the top section of the homescreen, adjacent to Daily, Rentals and Outstations. Upon selecting Ola Drive, the App reads “Rent a self-drive car at affordable prices”. The feature will allow users to choose a time for a self-pickup of the car service, following which users can select the vehicle of their choosing in the next page and see their respective prices.
Speaking about the launch, Ola Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Arun Srinivas said “We are very excited to launch the Ola Drive category to consumers, a big step towards building a holistic shared mobility landscape in India. India’s car-sharing market has immense potential and opportunity, which is yet to see a large scale investment in technology and operations to make the model viable. Ola has been deep-rooted in India’s mobility landscape, building technology-enabled transportation solutions for millions of users. Our expertise in serving millions of customers through a large fleet of vehicles across 250 plus cities has been instrumental in making ride-hailing a norm in India. Ola Drive has been built on the same DNA and will play a transformative role in defining India’s car-sharing market in the next decade”.
Srinivas added, “In the first phase of its roll-out, Ola Drive will be offered as a short-term self-drive car-sharing service as we look to introduce long-term subscription, corporate leasing, and more options in the times to come”.