Skip to main content
https://www.highperformancecpmgate.com/rgeesizw1?key=a9d7b2ab045c91688419e8e18a006621

India’s Ola to begin operations in London in ‘coming weeks’

Indian ride-hailing giant Ola said today it will begin operations in London “in the coming weeks,” a day after the local authorities revoked Uber’s license to operate in one of the world’s most lucrative cities.

The Indian firm, which entered portions of the UK last year, said it has started to sign up drivers in London ahead of the launch in the city. The company, which has raised over $3.5 billion to date, aims to on-board 50,000 drivers in London.

Ola, which like its rival Uber counts SoftBank Group as an investor, secured an operating license from Transport for London (TfL) earlier this year. The company said it can already serve 7 million users across 27 boroughs in the UK.

Simon Smith, Head of International for Ola, said the company’s mobility platform is “fully compliant” with TfL’s standards. In a statement, he added, “we have had constructive conversations with the authorities, drivers, and local communities in London over the past months, and look forward to contributing towards solving mobility issues in innovative and meaningful ways.”

On Monday, Uber was stripped of its London license after authorities found that more than 14,000 trips on the platform were taken with drivers who had faked their identity.

Ola, on its part, could not have made it clearer that it was doing everything Uber supposedly didn’t.

Ola said in London, it will offer a range of safety features including an “industry-first” driver facial recognition system for “continuous authentication,” a “driver image verification against driving licence photographs,” “robust technology systems to ensure that only licensed drivers complaint with TfL requirements can operate on the platform,” a 24/7 helpline for customers and drivers, and an in-app emergency button to alert Ola’s Safety Response Team.

Expansion to London illustrates Ola’s growing international ambitions. The company has also launched its service in parts of New Zealand and Australia. So far in the UK, however, it has largely targeted tier 2 cities. The UK capital is a major European market. Uber, which said it was going to appeal TfL’s decision, itself claims to have about 3.5 million users and 45,000 registered drivers in the city.

More to follow…

PR pitch to Ola reveals the inner workings of UK ride-hailing politics

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How the world’s largest cannabis dispensary avoids social media restrictions

Planet 13 is the world’s largest cannabis dispensary. Located in Las Vegas, blocks off the Strip, the facility is the size of a small Walmart. By design, it’s hard to miss. Planet 13 is upending the dispensary model. It’s big, loud and visitors are encouraged to photograph everything. As part of the cannabis industry, Planet 13 is heavily restricted on the type of content it can publish on Instagram, Facebook and other social media platforms. It’s not allowed to post pictures of buds or vapes on some sites. It can’t talk about pricing or product selection on others.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Morgan Celeste SF Blogger (@bayareabeautyblogger) on Jan 25, 2020 at 7:54pm PST Instead, Planet 13 encourages its thousands of visitors to take photos and videos. Starting with the entrance, the facility is full of surprises tailored for the ‘gram. As a business, Planet 13’s social media content is heavily restricted a...
3 comments
Read more

Uber co-founder Garrett Camp steps back from board director role

Uber co-founder Garrett Camp is relinquishing his role as a board director and switching to board observer — where he says he’ll focus on product strategy for the ride hailing giant. Camp made the announcement in a short Medium post in which he writes of his decade at Uber: “I’ve learned a lot, and realized that I’m most helpful when focused on product strategy & design, and this is where I’d like to focus going forward.” “I will continue to work with Dara [Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO] and the product and technology leadership teams to brainstorm new ideas, iterate on plans and designs, and continue to innovate at scale,” he adds. “We have a strong and diverse team in place, and I’m confident everyone will navigate well during these turbulent times.” The Canadian billionaire entrepreneur signs off by saying he’s looking forward to helping Uber “brainstorm the next big idea”. Camp hasn’t been short of ideas over his career in tech. He’s the co-founder of the web 2.0 recommendatio...
Post a Comment
Read more

Billionaire clothing dynasty heiress launches Everybody & Everyone to make fashion sustainable

Veronica Chou’s family has made its fortune at the forefront of the fast fashion business through investments in companies like Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger . But now, the heiress to an estimated $2.1 billion fortune is launching her own company, Everybody & Everyone , to prove that the fashion industry can be both environmentally sustainable and profitable. There’s no argument about the negative impacts of the fashion industry on the environment. The textiles industry primarily uses non-renewable resources — on the order of 98 million tons per year. That includes the oil to make synthetic fibers, fertilizers to grow cotton, and toxic chemicals to dye, treat, and produce the textiles used to make clothes. The greenhouse gas footprint from textiles production was roughly 1.2 billion tons of CO2 equivalent in 2015 — more than all international flights and maritime shipments combined (and a lot of those maritime shipments and international flights were hauling clothes). The lit...
Post a Comment
Read more