In an attempt to dominate the Indian market, the largest taxi-aggregator service Ola is now planning to introduce a subscription-based billing service to its users as soon as next week.
According to Tech In Asia, the new service will be called ‘Ola Executive’ and will work on a post-paid model that will allow riders to pay for their car rides at the end of the billing cycle(see below for more info). The taxi-aggregator aims to up the ante and provide an improved customer experience by providing additional services like Free Wi-Fi, better supply of cabs and customer rewards as a part of the new scheme.
The customers will have an option to choose between three subscription models, be it weekly, quarterly or monthly. This is Ola’s attempt to woo the customers to its services and build a loyal user base for their new service, while dissing their fiercest rival Uber at the same time.
Both the taxi-aggregators have a cut-throat competition in the Indian market, and have tried to introduce new services to their platform, like shuttles, auto-aggregation, Wi-Fi, cash payments, motorbike ride-sharing and much more.
Ola had earlier tried to introduce a similar benefits program under the moniker – Ola Select – to offer select passengers with services like free Wi-fi, cab upgrades at no extra cost, special discounts and a range of exclusive benefits from Ola’s partner brands. Thought, there was no subscription service for the same.
Ola had also gone a step further to introduce grocery and food delivery on its platform, but had to close shop to divert its focus on their key business – taxi aggregation.
Ola is currently in a heated war with Uber who has been trying to introduce new ways to bolster its presence in India by using the in-flow of cash from their big time investors. Ola however has now restructured its business model and focusing to maintain their thin lead over Uber in the current scenario.
The taxi-aggregator has recently also ventured into the luxury segment and introduced their new service – Ola Lux – currently operational in South Mumbai. It offers users to choose from a variety of luxury cars ranging from Jaguar, Mercedes, Audi, BMW, to the lower end Toyota Camry and Fortuner.
