[noopster]

Have been using Ola to ferry around visitors and they have had only good things to say. I book the cab using the "Ride Later" option on the app from my office and they get the cab wherever they are. All I do is forward the driver details to them.

This is a fantastic model and I feel bad that the pioneer, Uber, has been banned. Govt needs to review the ban and allow them to operate with some other safeguards in place IMHO. To all those who are anti-Uber and Ola on this thread all I can say is...it is better for us consumers in the long run. This is the future whether you like it or not. If not Uber then someone else. Why fight it?

[Visran]

Olacabs is on the verge of buying rival Taxi-ForSure for about $200 million (Rs 1,250 crore), an aggressive move which sets up a straight fight with Uber for dominance of India's taxi aggregation market.

According to three people directly involved in the negotiations, Olacabs, backed by Japan's SoftBank, will pay cash and offer stock in what will be the second-largest buyout in the consumer Internet market after Flipkart's acquisition of fashion portal Myntra for an estimated $370 mi ..

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...campaign=cppst

This shall surely make ola cabs one of the biggest taxi service provider in the country

[driverace]

Recently used OLA cabs (twice) & the experience was fine.
One cab was really well maintained, the other - not so much - but still ok.
Cabs were on time & distance was based on "google maps app" on their Ola-phones-with-gps.

With the current referral bonus* of 100 Rs. it makes the fares (for mini cab rides) lower than "metered" auto fares.
*(have shared that in discount coupon's thread)

We get snapshot & history of fares on our app.
If we send a cab for family/pickup - in the app, we can track the cab too!

There are some offers going on - for Ola Money recharge, so that keeps it fairly affordable!

Cheers,

Ace.

[sgiitk]

They are after Uber. One bad fish does not destroy the pond. Looks like Ola has bought out TaxiForSure. Meru are excellent but about 40% costlier.

[noopster]

I had an opportunity to use Ola Autos in Bangalore a couple of weeks ago. Actually I was desperate- needed to go someplace in a hurry and all cabs were busy (on Ola and Uber both). Finally clicked on the auto option and it showed me a booking. But the driver just didn't pick up so I tried again and this time I got the call from the driver himself.

It was a complete shock: a polite, cultured voice speaking perfect working English greeted me and asked me my exact location. Told him and he picked me up in a few minutes. Clean, well-maintained auto with an electronic meter. He informed me that I would need to pay 10/- over the meter rate which was already in the Ola Auto terms & conditions so I readily agreed. I was travelling to an unfamiliar place so bounced a couple of route options off him and he very confidently told me the route he would take since it was the best option at that time. When we were close to our destination he asked me to call up my friend then took the phone himself and carefully absorbed the directions. Returned the phone with a flourish announcing, "I will take you straight to the doorstep" which left me grinning. Delivered on his promise too.

In between (it was a bloody long ride!) we chatted about how traffic had gone to the dogs in Bangalore, he asked me about Mumbai and Pune, I asked him how he spoke such good English and he told me he had lost a "good job" in the service industry and started driving an auto to kill time and how he liked it and went and bought his own vehicle within a couple of years. Asked him about Ola and he was very positive about them saying it had definitely increased his business- curiously they don't charge him anything at all either for the app or on a commission basis. Net of expenses he makes 30-35k on average which is not bad at all; next he plans to acquire a commercial taxi driver's license and buy his own cab within the year.

I was so impressed that I topped off his 268/- bill (including the 10/-) to 300/- and wished him well. He thanked me and went on his way.

I'm pretty sure Ola had nothing to do with it and I chanced upon this guy by accident but it was a first rate experience in terms of customer delight. I don't think Ola follows the same model for autos as they do for taxis, though. There is no driver-side app- I think it is SMS-based. And the 10/- extra is not followed in Ola cab bookings. But you have to hand it to them for making this work. Anyone else with an Ola auto experience to share please do so.

[vivriti]

Am a regular user of Ola's cab service and recently hailed an auto. It was smooth and satisfactory. The far was lower than the ones demanded by Chennai autowalas and the driver was courteous and drove smoothly.

Also observed that the number of autos standing in front of my office complex has come down and new age cabs increased. I usually get an Ola Cab in minutes when calling from my office.

[atul.sxna]

Taxi For Sure had very competitive rates in Delhi for very short distance drives -- Rs. 49 for the first 4kms !!!

It was very useful for my mom whose school is roughly around 3.5kms from our house. Cheaper than an auto for the same distance !!!!

Will be interesting to see how the takeover takes places and what pricing policy do they adopt.

[SchumiFan]

Originally Posted by noopster

I had an opportunity to use Ola Autos in Bangalore a couple of weeks ago. Anyone else with an Ola auto experience to share please do so.

I tried OLA cabs 6 times last week on three days in total (twice each day). Each time, it left me impressed.

1. got 300 rupees cashback as part of the promo
2. 50 rupees discount on every single ride
3. 200 off on the first ride

Used all three offers and traveled in 'AC' cabs to my locations. One thing I liked was the need to just transfer money over phone, but didn't like that it deducted the amount automatically once the trip was closed. The waiting charges are a mystery as well.

If they extend OLA money service to Autos as well, then I will take it every single time. There are plenty available in the area and it will work out cheaper than cabs too.

The drivers were courteous as well and mostly found me through GPS without necessarily asking me to direct them to my location.

[anand.shankar]

Taxi for sure has been pretty impressive in Bangalore atleast, I have almost stopped using my car for city runabouts! I really am confused at their operating model, how do they make profits after paying commissions for the driver and with low km rates. I am sure the cheap rates will be temporary till some sort of consolidation takes place. It will be interesting for sure to see how this industry matures out.

[PetrolRider]

Originally Posted by SchumiFan

One thing I liked was the need to just transfer money over phone, but didn't like that it deducted the amount automatically once the trip was closed. The waiting charges are a mystery as well.

Mysteries are mysteries always. I am using OLA for last 2 years for me and my family as well and always have this 'waiting charges' mysterious. Even for cases where I was waiting for the cab in front of my house and the trip do not involves any diversions, I always end waiting charges of 10 min or so. As the cabs are good and drivers are OK and charges are low too, never bothered about few rupees added up to bill.

Could be the idle time at traffic signals are considered as waiting time? Even as they follow google map based distance calculation, may be a speed below a certain speed could not be recognized as the vehicle is on the motion by the google map app and considered as waiting time?

[TSIched'Out]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Could be the idle time at traffic signals are considered as waiting time?

That's correct. Idle time at the signals or stoppage due to traffic conditions is included in the waiting charges. However, this is better than Uber's charges for travel time in addition to the distance based fare.

[ramb]

I am regular User of Ola cabs and the best part is they have cabs in most locations as compared to Uber in Hyderabad. Also the pricing is way low when compared to Uber and meeru. But the down side is the cabs are a bit old and not well maintained. But who cares as long as the we get cabs on time and the rate is cheap. Since my travel is not more than 10Kms, I prefer Ola cabs to Autos which charge me the same rate

[ramb]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Edit: Due to some internet issues, posted twice. Moderator please delete duplicate post or just let me know how to delete.


Mysteries are mysteries always. I am using OLA for last 2 years for me and my family as well and always have this 'waiting charges' mysterious. Even for cases where I was waiting for the cab in front of my house and the trip do not involves any diversions, I always end waiting charges of 10 min or so. As the cabs are good and drivers are OK and charges are low too, never bothered about few rupees added up to bill.

The same thing here. Some times I have seen waiting times way too high than what I expected and being charged extra. So before I board the Ola cab, I make sure I note down the time I start the journey and also how many minutes I made the cab wait and also inform the driver the exact wait time so that he does not fiddle with the App[if any such settings exist].
Meeru has the option of the first 10-15 minutes for wait time which is not chargeable. But Ola has no such options

[PetrolRider]

Originally Posted by ramb

Meeru has the option of the first 10-15 minutes for wait time which is not chargeable. But Ola has no such options

Ola do have first 10 minutes of waiting time free. But this works before the trip starts.
Let's say I have booked a cab at 8-15 and the cab reached at 8-15. But I boarded the cab at 8-20, i.e. the journey started at 8-20, then this 5 min waiting is free. The same works for Meru also I assume.
What happens here, let's say I boarded the cab at 8-15 only (no waiting) and the taxi is driven for 10 km in 30 minutes and I get a bill of 10 KM and 5 min waiting charge.
In meters found in Autos or metered taxis, there are two meters running, either your distance meter is running or when you stops at signal, you have your time meter running. But here as only distance meter is running on the mobile app of the cab, all confusion is for the waiting charge it seems.

[ramb]

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Ola do have first 10 minutes of waiting time free. But this works before the trip starts.
Let's say I have booked a cab at 8-15 and the cab reached at 8-15. But I boarded the cab at 8-20, i.e. the journey started at 8-20, then this 5 min waiting is free. The same works for Meru also I assume.
What happens here, let's say I boarded the cab at 8-15 only (no waiting) and the taxi is driven for 10 km in 30 minutes and I get a bill of 10 KM and 5 min waiting charge.
In meters found in Autos or metered taxis, there are two meters running, either your distance meter is running or when you stops at signal, you have your time meter running. But here as only distance meter is running on the mobile app of the cab, all confusion is for the waiting charge it seems.

Maybe I was not aware of this. Thanks for the information Petrol Rider. Then I assume the same concept applies to Uber too.


With now only 3 mainstream players in this market I feel the competition is going to heat up. I just feel Ola has the edge here where in customers have the advantage of booking a cab and if not available at the specific time they have the option of booking an auto in the same app. Also I find the "Ride later" feature in Ola app very useful which I suppose is not available in Uber. This makes booking easier.
Chatted with some Ola drivers and they seem pretty happy with Ola in Paywise. Similar to Uber, they take home a lot of money. This taxi trend is another revolution in India