ola car business plan

Ola’s business model- Everything You Need to Know

Do you remember the time when we used to prefer autos over cabs in India? A decade ago, very few Indians used to own a private car, and the rest of us would depend on the public or local transport available. Fast forward, to 2021, with the advent of mobile technology and cab aggregators, we have all the options of transportation at our fingertips.

Today’s generation now enjoys traveling at peace, and is rethinking whether to own a car shortly or not, which you know was(is) considered a luxury by our parents (and by our neighbors too!). 

Let us talk about one such cab aggregator – Ola

With the mission – To build mobility for billions, Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, in 2010, started one of India’s largest homegrown cab aggregators – Ola Cabs. Since its inception, Ola has served 1bn+ rides across 250+ cities (both local and global), empowered 1.5 mn driver-partners, and employed 7000 employees. 

Great numbers, right? But, how did it all start? What triggered the founders to build one of the world’s leading cab-hailing companies?  What business model has Ola adopted to grow?

From OlaTrip.com to Ola! 

As founders, Bhavish and Ankit brainstormed a lot of ideas in their early days as entrepreneurs. They first started with Olatrip.com, which was a portal for booking holiday trips and weekend getaways. For novice entrepreneurs, as Bhavish had said once, the ideas would never come from an excel sheet but would click from their own experiences.

Bhavish once had an awful experience during one of his trips from Banglore to Bandipur. Halfway through the ride, the driver demanded a renegotiation later abandoned Bhavish on the roadside. We can say this was the “Eureka” moment for Bhavish and Ola. He empathized with the plight of travellers across the country and made a “pivot” in the business strategy, and within the next six months, rebranded Olatrip to Ola.

The founders envisioned great potential in the cab aggregation space. With the right blend of technology in mobility, it is safe to assume that Ola has reimagined the – way we travel. Ola has expanded its offerings as per the needs of the commuters and that too in every mobility space. 

Funding and Acquisition Ride… So far

In October 2019, the valuation of Ola had reached $6.2 billion, but because of the aftermaths of Covid-19, US-based investment firm – Vanguard, which held a 1% stake in Ola, first slashed down its investment by 45% in June 2020 and again by 9.5% in early 2021. This disinvestment brought down the valuation of the company to $3 billion.

According to Crunchbase, Ola has raised  $4.3 billion  in funding in over 26 rounds. Forty-nine investors are backing the company including,  Temasek Holdings and Bhavish Aggarwal . Since its inception, Ola has acquired seven organizations, which we will know about as we move ahead in the article. 

Today, Ola is no longer restricted to just cab-hailing services but has transformed the entire mobility sector by aggressive product innovation in its business model. 

Deep diving into the Business Model of Ola 

Ola, owned by ANI Technologies, started with a relatively straightforward business model. It used to operate as a Taxi Rental fleet business. If you remember, earlier, Ola didn’t have any mobile application; instead, customers used to call its service centre and book a vehicle, and the cab was provided to them as and when required. 

In the coming years, Ola envisioned the potential in the digital space and throttled into an app-based cab aggregation business. Through its platform, Ola bridged the gap between the cab drivers/operators and customers. Ola’s platform provides a more convenient way for the customers to book a cab and a large customer base to the driver-partners.

The way you and I as customers have access to the Ola application, in the same way, there is a similar application developed for the driver-partners. Once the customer confirms the ride, the driver-partner receives the ride request. If the request is accepted, the customer gets the details of the driver and ride. Ola charges a commission of around 15- 20% on every ride booked from its platform.

In 2015, Ola acquired TaxiForSure for over $200 million . It was claimed as an attractive buy as, unlike Ola, TaxiForSure worked with taxi operators. The acquisition smartly gave Ola the tap on these operators. As a result of this acquisition, Ola accomplished the success of Ola Micro within a short period. Later, OLA shut down the TaxiForSure business but continued to have different categories at different prices, including Micro, Mini, Prime and Lux, Kaali-Peeli, auto-rickshaws, and even bikes on its platform with a few more vehicle categories. 

In the same year, 2015, Ola made its second  acquisition  by acquiring Geotagg to bolster its bus shuttle services and manage urban traffic problems effectively. In January 2018, Ola had acquired the ticketing app Ridlr to foray into the public transport segment. As per the reports, the deal was a stock transaction of about  $25 million . 

In FY 2019, Ola Cabs had operating revenue of Rs 2544 Crore . Year-over-year, the operating revenue increased by around 30 percent in FY 2019. However, the company closed its financial books at a loss. A major share of its revenue, in that year, was generated by commission income and convenience fees.

ANI Technologies, the parent company of Ola, has reported its standalone operating profit of Rs  89.82 crore  for FY21 and a 62% drop in revenue between FY21 and FY20. Also, Ola Cabs’ operating profit (EBIDTA) grew by  115%  in FY 21 compared to FY20, the fiscal year in which Ola Cabs had reported a loss of 610 crores.

However we know, over the years, Ola has cemented its positioning in different sectors and is not just restricted to the trip commission. To analyze Ola’s business model in detail, let’s have a quick view of multiple revenue streams and business segments of Ola: 

1. Commission from ride-hailing services :

Ola offers several types of hailing services, from cabs to autos; from economic to luxury vehicles; from intercity rides to intracity rides. In a way, Ola has developed a gigantic ecosystem that is highly favored by both the customers and the driver-partners.

Even though Ola has forrayed into different verticals of services, cab booking services remain the most significant revenue generator. It charges a commission of 15-20% on the total fare of the trip.

The fair can be paid by both cash and other online methods available on Ola’s platform. Ola started its operations in London just when Uber’s license got revoked. It seems the rivalry is just not restricted to Indian soil.

A big moment for all of us @Olacabs @OlainUK as we go live in #London ! As a homegrown brand, this is a transformative event for all of us. We are excited to bring a differentiated mobility experience and welcome Londoners to #RideTheChange . Read more: https://t.co/EAlHOnHCBD pic.twitter.com/XKx8brVwbT — Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) February 10, 2020

2.  Ola Select  –

Ola Select is a subscription-based membership model of Ola. By opting in for the membership, members can avail themselves of numerous advantages, such as – no peak pricing, priority bookings, and free wifi. 

3.  Ola Corporate  –

Ola launched the enterprise solution – Ola Corporate to make business travels costs affordable and the reimbursement process hassle-free. 

4.  In-Cab advertisement:  

You must have noticed several brochures, pamphlets, or sometimes live ads are displayed or distributed during your ride. Ola charges a fixed commission from the companies for promoting their brands leveraging Ola’s services. 

5.  Ola Prime Play  –

Ola launched an in-cab – infotainment platform – Ola Play to provide an enhanced ride experience than its rival, Uber. Ola charges a slightly higher fee to the commuters if they opt for Prime Play. 

6.  Cab Leasing  –

To broaden its territory in the fleet mobility services, Ola, in 2015, bought Delhi based radio cab service and renamed it Fleet Technology Pvt Ltd. Here, Ola buys the cars and leases them to the partner drivers under its leasing program. The driver-partner takes the travel-fair home, while Ola takes a fixed fee and trip-based commission. 

Ola’s business model is now much more than cabs 

By now, if you thought that’s all Ola is about, let me tell you a few more exciting ventures launched by Ola.

Ola Financial Services(OFS) :

In 2015, Ola had launched the wallet app Ola Money for short-term credits, mobile wallets, insurance, and payment of utility bills. Ola cut a deal with 20+ partners including, BookMyShow, Pizza hut, and a few others, whose offers can be purchased using Ola money.

To have a strong foot forward in the financial services space, in 2019, Ola had hived off the operations of the financial services arm from its parent ANI Technologies and started  Ola Financial Services Pvt Ltd . In its maiden funding round, OFS had raised fresh funds of  Rs.200  crores from Matrix Partners and Falcon Edge. The move had made Ola give a tough competition to the larger competitors in the market, including Amazon Pay, Google Pay, Phone Pe, etc.

Ola has claimed that its Ola Money Postpaid has been a profitable business and is a leading product in the fintech market. On the other hand, Ola has shaken hands with SBI to launch Ola Money Credit Card, Religare to roll out Ola Money Hospicash, and Zipcash to enhance wallet business. 

OFS is now planning to expand the insurance business overseas by developing innovative insurance products and rolling out lending offers for a two-wheeler, four-wheeler, and personal loans for UK and ANZ markets. 

In 2016, Ola had acquired payment startup  Qarth  to continue providing best in class payment experience to its customers. The cab-hailing company did not disclose the acquisition sum. 

Ola embarked upon its journey into the food and delivery industry in December 2015 with Ola Cafes. Things took a downhill, and Ola had to shut it down within a year. Ola tried its luck the second time when it acquired Foodpanda India for $ 200  million.

After some initial hiccups, in 2019, Ola had shut down FoodPanda’s food delivery business, but it continued to operate Foodpanda’s cloud kitchen business. They say the third time is a charm, and thus Ola again pivoted the business strategy and focused on being a food-first company instead of a food delivery company. 

Business model transition to cloud kitchen in 2016 helped Rebel Foods achieve growth by increasing revenues and reducing capital expenditure. How?

The homegrown cab-hailing firm moved to build its  private brands  and curated food offerings such as The Great Khichdi Experiment, Bowlsome, That Pizza Place, and a few more.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Khichdi Experiment (@khichdi.experiment)

Ola affirmed that its leading brand, “The Khichdi Experiment”, crossed  1mn  orders within a year, despite Covid-19 restrictions. 

Ola has shifted the focus to building private food brands, cloud kitchens, and contactless delivery. Ola’s multi-brand kitchen model is designed to cater to 8-10 brands, and can be scaled up if the demand rises. Ola Foods operates 40+ cloud kitchens across six major cities in the country and has aimed to spread over 150-200 kitchens to fulfil 70-80 % of the urban food delivery demand. Ola Foods is vying with Curefoods and Rebel Foods in the cloud kitchen sector. 

As the food-tech industry is growing both in customer adoption and investor’s interest, Ola has also ensured to take notes from its past learnings. As consumers’ preferences are changing, more DIY cooking kits are trending. Ola is embracing this change and is betting big on technology to grab this opportunity. It has developed research, development, and food innovation centre, and not just that, Ola has also teamed up with the best culinary chefs, food technologists, automation specialists, and nutritionists to innovate and create differentiated products.

Keeping the technology at the forefront at Ola Foods, Ola is aggressively working on “precision cooking” methods that ensure the right time, temperature, and amount of cooked food. The firm is also reportedly innovating AI-driven solutions to monitor kitchen quality. 

Well, it seems that this time, Ola can have the cake and eat it too! 

Adding New Mobility to Ola’s Comprehensive business model

Ola has paved the way to building a consumer-centric New Mobility ecosystem. Sharing his vision of New Mobility, Bhavish Agrawal said that the New Mobility would stand tall on three pillars – mobility services, energy vehicles, and auto -retail.

Ola aims to fulfill diverse consumer needs through its diversified portfolios such as kick scooters, e-bikes, drones, and flying cars. Bhavish asserts that the new sustainable mobility will cost 80% less to run than internal combustion engines. 

Ola Electric Mobility

The early efforts to start Ola Electric started way back in  2017   when Ola partnered with the Government of India and Mahindra to launch India’s first-ever multi-modal electric vehicle project in Nagpur, Maharashtra. Ola claimed that it had spent INR 50 crores to procure the vehicles and set up 50 charging stations across the strategic locations in the city. 

In 2019, Ola Electric Mobility secured funding of  $250  million from Softbank and joined the unicorn club along with its parent company Ola. 

As famously said Tesla and Elon Musk are not just about Electric cars. Tesla is building an entire ecosystem. But what factors are helping Tesla achieve such a feat?

To advance strides in electric mobility space, Ola had acquired  Etergo BV , an Amsterdam-based electric scooter original equipment manufacturer, for an undisclosed amount. Following the acquisition, Ola has positioned itself in the premium electric two-wheeler market, both globally and locally. 

Advent of OlaFutureFactory

Ola is ensuring the end-to-end operation is integrated into its in-house technologies and capabilities, including building battery packs, motors, vehicle computers, and software. To accomplish the same, Ola has been reaching out to the best-in-class partners globally. 

Ola’s commitment to invest 2400 cr to the Tamil Nadu government for setting up its first electric scooter factory in the state was in tandem with its partnership with German firm  Siemens  to build one of a kind and advanced manufacturing facility in the Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu. The 500 acres facility is also regarded as the world’s largest two-wheeler mega-factory, which is entirely run by women. Ola has anchored on Siemens’ digital twin design and manufacturing solutions. The integrated solution will help Ola to validate products and production beforehand.

Ola has also collaborated with Swedish automation giant  ABB  to build and supply robotic and automation solutions. These solutions will get deployed at its mega factory for the key processes and assembly lines. ABB-developed solutions will be deeply integrated with Ola’s in-house AI engine platform and tech stack. By leveraging ABB’s automation package with digital connectivity, Ola will ensure remote digital connectivity and monitoring of robots, which will remain instrumental in optimizing robot performance, productivity, and product quality. 

The partnership is conducive to the rollout of the best-in-class e-scooters for India and the world. 

Qualcomm also  has a tie-up with Ola Electric to provide a 4G-connected octa-core android platform that provides connectivity and computing capabilities.

Ola FutureFactory is expected to be the world’s most automated facility that will work on Industry 4.0 principles. With over 3,000 robots powered by Ola’s proprietary AI, 10 million annual vehicle-making capacity, 2 million vehicles at initial annual capacity, run by 10,000 women employees, the facility will be the greenest with 100 acres of forest on-site, running fully carbon-negative operations. The company aims to handle 15% of the global two-wheeler capacity. 

The mega-factory will serve as the global manufacturing hub for its electric-powered scooters across India and international markets, including Europe, the UK, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand.

It is #VocalforLocal at Ola! 

Ola Electric wants to make its business model self-reliant. One of the most prominent features of Ola’s e-scooter is its replaceable battery. The Li-ion battery is about 40% of the cost of a scooter, and the battery cells account for 70% of the battery cost. In today’s world, cell manufacturing space is dominated by South Korea, Japan, and China.

But, Ola has laid down big plans to set up its c ell manufacturing plant  in India. Once this plan gets accomplished, Ola will join the club of a few Indian manufacturers to do so, as all the cells are imported as of now. 

Creating an Ecosystem for EV

I had owned an e-scooter back in 2013. We used to live in a small city in India, where we could get it charged in our courtyard. But when we moved to the financial capital of India, we could not find any means to charge the e-scooter in our sky-scraper. Therefore, we sold the e-scooter for a token sum of Rs. 500 to the local  kabadi (ragman). 

Fortunately, Ola has taken note of the infrastructural gap for EVs in India and is going to establish the world’s largest and densest electric two-wheeler  charging network . The Ola Hypercharger Network will be one of its kind, with more than 100,000 charging points available across 400 cities. Ola has estimated the cost of $2 billion over the next five years.

Ola will ensure to set up the Hypercharger in city centers and popular locations so that an Ola Electric customer can always find a Hypercharger nearby. Along with this, customers will also have access to a home charger bundled with the Ola Scooter.

Ola Hypercharger network, together with the home-charger and Ola Scooter’s industry-leading range, will ensure that customers have complete confidence when opting for its electric vehicles. Ola is ensuring to provide a seamless customer experience, for which it has also developed – Ola Electric App. Through the app, a customer can monitor the charging progress, pay for the charging, and get insightful navigation features indicating whether the customer has enough charging to go from one place to another. (Man, I am impressed! ).

To accelerate electric vehicle development or to strengthen the “Mission Electric,” Ola Electric first raised  $100  million by taking a long term debt from Bank of Broda and later raised  $200  million in funding from Falcon Edge, SoftBank, and other investors, valuing the company at $3 billion. 

It is fair to conclude that Ola is playing all the right cards to instill confidence in customers to opt for its electric vehicles. 

Ola has launched a new EV category on its ride-hailing platform that allows riders to book electric vehicle rides. The category – Ola EV is first available across  London  and then rolled out to other cities where Ola is operational.  

In India, Ola Electric competes with Ather Energy, Hero Electric, Bajaj, and TVS Motor Company. As the company has reported that it sold e-scooters worth  Rs 1100 crores , it will be intriguing to wait and watch how the rivals play out their cards in the EV game! 

This year, Ola has launched its new  vehicle commerce platform  from which customers will be able to buy and manage new and pre-owned vehicles. Ola Cars will first start with the pre-owned cars and will later move to Ola electric and vehicles from other brands. By challenging the archaic retail model, Ola Cars will bring transparency and a digital experience for its customers.

It has plans to start with 30 cities for the first phase and eventually scale up to 100 cities by next year. Ola Cars have a long list of services to offer, such as – purchase, vehicle finance and insurance, maintenance, including vehicle health diagnostics and service, accessories, and finally, resale of the vehicle back to Ola Cars, as claimed by the company. 

Ola Cars will be competing with other market players such as Cars24 and Droom. 

The new business segment is in line with Ola’s vision of The New Mobility, and to reinforce it further, Ola has acquired next-gen location tech  GeoSpoc . “Enhanced geospatial services will also go a long way in improving urban planning, including road networks, better public transportation, and pre-empt congestion spots,”  as said by Bhavish in a blogpost . The sum of the acquisition transaction remains undisclosed. 

The following business segment in the bucket list of Ola is – Ola Store. With Ola Store, Ola will join the quick-commerce industry as well. It has launched a pilot delivery for items such as personal care, grocery, and pet care, in Bengaluru.

The company is aiming for a 15 minutes delivery timeline. As traditional e-commerce deliveries take one to two days, quick-commerce can deliver small amounts quickly. Swiggy Instamart and Dunzo are already playing in the segment. By 2024. the quick commerce sector in India will grow to  $5 billion  from $0.3 billion. 

Q-commerce is all about speedy and quick delivery of goods at doorstep. Read the article to find out more.

Ola’s Marketing Strategy

For the marketing strategy of Ola, let us focus on its social media strategy, as I want to draw your attention to how Ola engages its customers on the web. 

Ola had started building its online presence from Facebook (Oops! I mean Meta). Its campaign #ChaloNiklo was such a success that sales surged up to 60%. 

From then on, Ola started several trendy hashtags, including #FarakPadtahai – to spread awareness about carbon footprint and to encourage carpooling. Another one that you might have noticed was – #HeroesofOla, which showcased the acts of courage and humanity of Ola driver-partners. The recent one I observed is – #jointherevolution an obvious one to engage customers in Ola Electric. 

Not just this, Ola has also partnered with  TVF  in its famous web series – Permanent Roommates. Now you are thinking of Purshottamji riding the Ola cab! 

Ola also joined other brands to pull the best pranks on April Fools’ Day. Ola launched a fake campaign stating that it was coming up with a flying car – Ola Air Pro! The company mentioned that the flying car would be so light that it could be lifted with one hand, and one need not worry about finding the perfect parking spot and poor urban planning! ( Honestly, I also thought it was a genuine product campaign when I was researching to write this article. Facepalm! )

Not just that, Ola had also launched a  website of Ola Air Pro  to keep a tap on the interest of consumers. 

You must have noticed that we come to know about most of the details on Ola by Bhavish himself. Every article that I have read so far had the same sentence – The co-founder and Group Chairman, Bhavish Agrawal, took on his Twitter handle to share.

So, If you ever wonder what is happening with Ola or any of its subsidiaries, Bhavish’s Twitter account must be your go-to place! 

Excited to unveil the world’s first and only fully autonomous electric flying car. The Ola AirPro. Ab har family bharegi udaan. Test flights now at https://t.co/UbwKCwikg1 #OlaAirPro #TheFutureIsHere @Olacabs @OlaElectric pic.twitter.com/dy31ZS8FQ8 — Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) April 1, 2021

She is an early professional who loves reading and socializing. When it's not raining, you can find her on the seashore writing scripts for her podcast. :)

Related Posts

How does Instacart work and make money: Business Model

What does Zscaler do | How does Zscaler work | Business Model

What does Chegg do | How does Chegg work | Business Model

What does Bill.com do | How does Bill.com work | Business Model

What does Cricut do | How does Cricut work | Business Model

What does DexCom do? How does DexCom business work?

What does CarMax do? How does CarMax business work?

What does Paycom do? How does Paycom work?

What does FedEx do | How does FedEx work | Business Model

How does Rumble work and make money: Business Model

Dollar General Business Model & Supply Chain Explained

What does C3 AI do | Business Model Explained

What does Aflac do| How does Aflac work| Business Model

How does Booking.com work and make money: Business Model

What does Okta do | How does Okta work | Business Model

What does Alteryx do | How does Alteryx work | Business Model

Write a comment cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Advanced Strategies
• Brand Marketing
• Digital Marketing
• Luxury Business
• Startup Strategies
• 1 Minute Strategy Stories
• Business Or Revenue Model
• Forward Thinking Strategies
• Infographics
• Publish & Promote Your Article
• Write Article
• Testimonials
• TSS Programs
• Fight Against Covid
• Privacy Policy
• Terms and condition
• Refund/Cancellation Policy
• Master Sessions
• Live Courses
• Playbook & Guides

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

• Search 36209
• Search 62573
• Search 67313

Business Model of Ola (2024) | How does Ola make money?

Company: Ola Cabs CEO: Bhavish Aggarwal Year founded: 2010 Headquarter: Bengaluru, India Number of Employees (Dec 2019):  8,000 Type: Private Valuation (Dec 2019): $10 Billion Annual Revenue (FY2019) : Rs 2,543.63 crore Profit | Net income (FY2019): Rs 2,593 crore

Products & Services:  Online ride-sharing services | Food delivery service | Mobile wallet Competitors:   Uber | Grubhub | Swiggy | Lyft | Grab | Bolt (Taxify) | Wheely | TaxiForSure | Meru | UberEats | PayTM

When it comes to reaching your destinations on time, several on-demand taxi services would probably come into your mind. Undoubtedly, one of them would be Ola. India’s largest domestic ride-hailing service company and Uber’s greatest rival in India, Ola was founded in 2011 , offering efficient transportation services to people.

Based on the two-sided network model, Ola connects customers seeking on-demand transportation with driver partners through a mobile app.

Ola serves millions of customers every day in over 169 cities . There are over 125 million users registered at Ola currently. The services of Ola are also effective in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.   

We’re very excited to partner with Hyundai to bring a new generation of mobility solutions to customers & driver-partners. This strategic partnership is a big step towards our mission of building mobility for a billion people. Read more: https://t.co/OgIrUnXdMM @Olacabs @HMG_talk pic.twitter.com/8omDSiGoY8 — Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) March 19, 2019

Let’s dig into Ola’s business model canvas to explore the company in depth and find out how Ola makes money.

Table of Contents

Business Model Canvas of Ola

1. customer segments of ola.

There are two customer segments of Ola:

Users of taxi service:

• City Taxi – Everyday commuters who want to book a cab to reach from one place to other, people who don’t like to drive instead enjoy working while on the go.
• Outstation or intercity Taxi – Friends and Families who want to travel to some place together for outstation travel.
• Rentals – People who enjoy driving has an option to rent a car for as little as 1 hour or up to 12 hours.
• Ola Corporate – Corporate customers who want to manage employee travels (pick/drop services), insurance, expenses, and invoices through a centralized portal or dashboard.

Drivers (taxi service providers):

Driver partners owning eligible cars, who provides taxi services and earn through the Ola platform.

• expenses, and invoices through a centralized portal or dashboard.

Bikers (bike service providers):

Bike and rickshaw owners can provide bike taxi services and earn on the Ola Bike platform. Ola Bike has more than 300,000 bike partners. [ 1 ]

2. Value Propositions of Ola

The value propositions of Ola are as follows:

For Passengers

• its affordable and lean fares
• high-quality service and convenient rides
• Certified drivers
• Criminal background check
• active customer support system
• advance booking
• multiple stops facility
• hourly packages for rental cabs, share and express rides,
• zero wait time with Ola Select membership program
• cashless rides and
• in-cab entertainment with Ola Play

For Drivers partners:

•  Choose your own working hours
• Access to more customers
• Instant booking
• Daily Payments
• 24/7 helpline support
• Lease cars get free car maintenance and
• Run and manage the fleet of cars

Loss of income cover – Announced in March 2020, this cover provides Rs 30,000 to each driver infected or affected by the health crisis. Drivers and their spouses can receive a compensation of Rs 1,000 per day f or 21 days. [ 2 ]

3. Customer Relationships of Ola

The customer relationships of Ola can be gauged by the pleasant experiences and satisfaction of the customers and driver partners.

Self-Serve App – Ola app is mostly a self-serve portal with 24/7 customer support.

Promotions offer – it maintains relationships with customers by offering them referrals credit points, various offers for their first ride, credits points if a trip is delayed or canceled by any reason, and many other promotions and discount offers.

In-App and Live Services – Ola provides 24/7 call and emergency (SOS) alert button in the app for exceptional customer service and support.

4. Channels of Ola

The channels of Ola include:

• Self-Serve – its hi-tech mobile application available on iOS, Android, and Windows. It also utilizes SMS and emails notifications to work with customers and driver partners.
• Partner Channel – Other delivery channels are its extensive range of vehicles that include autos, bikes, micro, mini, Prime Sedan, Prime SUV, Prime Play, LUX, E-Rick, and Kaali Peeli.
• Social Media – It also efficiently manages its social media pages and thrive in communications with customers. It keeps asking for feedback from customers to improve their services

8 seasons, 7 kingdoms, 6 direwolves, 5 books, 4 queens, 3 dragons, 2 battles of Winterfell, and 1 really strong fanbase later, here we are. How do you feel? #GOT #seasonfinale pic.twitter.com/QjNkYmzW3D — Ola (@Olacabs) May 20, 2019

5. Key Resources of Ola

The key resources of Ola are:

• Technology – its mobile technology platform
• Brand Reputation – Ola has created significant brand equity for itself.
• Employees – its employees and staff working in the domains of IT, sales, marketing, customer support, and finance and business management
• Engaged Community – its vibrant community of passengers and drivers that uses Ola services every day.
• Driver partners – Experienced, trained, and qualified drivers are also its key resources.
• Shareholders and investors – Ola’s major investors include SoftBank Group at 26.1%, Tiger Global at 15.94%, Tencent at 10.39%, Matrix Partners at8.57 %, DST Global at 6.72%, and others. Bhavish Aggarwal holds a 7-7.5% stake in the company. [ 3 ]

6. Key Activities of Ola

Major key activities of Ola are given as below:

• Platform growth – Managing and updating mobile app on a constant basis
• Ensuring safe, secure, prompt and convenient rides
• Hiring, verifying and training of drivers. Ola announced in October 2020 that it plans to hire about 1,000 engineers over the next few years. The engineers will work in its second technology center to be opened in Pune, which will cater to both global and local solutions for all businesses of Ola. [ 4 ]
• Providing time-to-time incentives and commissions to drivers
• Performing car audits to ensure the quality, value, and maintenance of vehicles
• Manage relationship – Managing relationships with customers, partners, and investors
• Government Compliance – Understanding and complying government regulations and RTO rules in the areas where it’s operating
• Sales & Marketing – Planning and executing promotion and marketing techniques – both online and offline
• Raising funds & develop an effective pricing strategy
• Administrating financial, operational, and functional tasks
• Performing surprise audits occasionally to ensure that the services are being delivered up to par, meeting the company’s expectations.
• Acquisitions for expansion – In May 2020, Ola acquired Amsterdam-based electric scooter startup Etergo BV to expand the capabilities of Ola Electric. The acquisition allows Ola Electric to build on the battery technology already developed by Etergo and deliver high energy batteries to the market quicker. In the previous financing round, Etergo was valued at around $90 million. [ 5 ]

7. Key Partners of Ola

The key partners of Ola include

Driver partners:

• Car drivers
• Car fleet owners
• private taxi owners

Operational partners:

• Technology enablement partners such as GPS service provider, Internet service provider, electronic or mobile wallet, platform hosting company, etc.

Extended Partners:

• Event organizers
• Corporate association
• Auto – Insurance companies
• Automotive maintenance companies
• Drug and background check companies
• Driving school or training institutes
• Bike partners – Ola diversified into the bike taxi service sector by launching Ola Bike to counter the saturation of the cab services market. Ola Bike has more than 300,000 bike partners and about 25% of the market share. The bike taxi service is growing at 20% month-over-month and is now a $150 million market. [ 6 ]

8. Cost Structure of Ola

Ola’s primary sources of costs include:

• New feature development
• promotion and branding costs
• discount offers and deals
• partners and community events
• Employee salaries – In May 2020, Ola’s revenues plunged 95% in two months prompting the company to lay off 1,400 employees to reduce costs. [ 7 ]
• legal and accounting expenses
• Commission to drivers
• infrastructure cost,
• web/app hosting cost
• Insurance cost
• Maintenance of lease vehicle
• Credit card/ mobile wallet processing cost
• day-to-day office maintenance expenses
• Computer equipment – phones, tablets, etc.

9. Revenue Streams of Ola

Let’s look at Ola’s revenue sources in more detail.

How does Ola make money?

The question ‘ how does Ola make money ’ would be answered once we take a dive into its revenue streams. Ola earns through various ways which are described as below:

1. Trip commission

Ola charges percentage commission from the trips being carried out through its platform. It charges trip fares from customers through several factors (below), some of these factors are applicable based on location, car type, etc. 

• Base fare – it’s an initial flat fare
• Distance per km Fare – is charged based on distance traveled per km, after initial fixed fare distance (differs from car to car and geographical location)
• Ride time fare – A fare charged based on the total time of the trip from pick up to drop off. Customers will be charged based on travel time in minutes.
• Wait time fare – is imposed if the driver had to wait
• Peak Pricing – During high demands for cabs, Ola increases the rates per km. It may also increase the rate of slabs depending on the type of car to generate more revenue. Your charges will vary according to the car you have selected at the time of booking. These charges include a fixed rate per km, per km travel charges and driver’s waiting time.
• Advance booking fees – there is an advance booking fee that is charged on all rides that are booked for later use.
• Access fees – it’s a fee for auto rides
• Convenience fee – its applicable to ride that provides in-cab entertainment
• Airport fees – surcharge fees are charged in case of airport pickup/ drop off
• Tool and parking fees – it’s based on the usage, when applicable
• A cancelation fee may be charged for canceled rides in certain conditions (fees vary as per rides and regions).
• Service Tax – is also charged on the entire trip fare

Once the travel fare is charged to your Ola Money Wallet, it will be credited to the driver’s account. If it is paid in cash, the same amount will be deducted and included in driver’s payment for the trips he has conducted. 

Moreover, Ola deducts the service tax from customers’ payment firstly. Then, it charges commissions percentage. Finally, it pays the remaining amount to the driver’s bank account within 2 working days.

An estimated commission that Ola charges per trip:

• Introductory promotion: 7. 5 % commission for new drivers for a limited period
• In India: Ola charges about 20% commission
• In the UK: Ola charges 10% for metered taxi and 15% for Private Hire Vehicle(PHV)
• In New Zealand: Ola charges about 18% commission
• In Australia: Ola charges about 15 – 22.5% commission

Also read: what Uber charges for commission?

2. Ola Money

Ola has also introduced its money wallet just like PayTM wallet and FreeCharge wallet. Through Ola’s virtual wallet service, payments can be made at various vendor touch points. The wallet also incorporates its own services of cab-hailing payments. This contributes to the revenue of Ola.

We are thrilled to announce a first-of-its-kind postpaid digital payment solution for all your Ola rides! Ola Money Postpaid allows a credit period of 15 days for a seamless cashless experience! Read more: https://t.co/sn4De5LWZk pic.twitter.com/os0fdfwqrE — Ola (@Olacabs) January 17, 2019

3. In-cab promotions and advertisement commissions

Brochures, pamphlets, or other advertising tools are given to commuters. Live streaming ads from different advertisers are played to promote different company’s products and services. Ola charges commissions for these promotions.

4. Cab leasing program

Ola has started a cab leasing program for its driver partners. It buys cars and leases them out to drivers to enhance the loyalty of drivers towards Ola.

There is an initial fee of Rs 4000 non-refundable fees and Rs 21,000 – 31,000 refundable security deposit. Also, a fixed daily fee amount of Rs 700 -1150 is charged to the drivers for running the vehicle while the travel fare revenue goes to the driver. So, it can be an aggregate of both fixed fee and trip-based commission. In March 2020, Ola waived lease rentals for drivers under its leasing program to help them recover from market uncertainties. Drivers were also demanding Rs 10,000 as an interest-free loan. [ 8 ]

5. Ola Credit Card

Ola has introduced a credit card “Ola Money SBI Card” in association with SBI and Visa. The card offers many benefits and rewards to its consumers. 

We’re excited to launch India's most rewarding Credit Card: the Ola Money SBI Card in association with @SBICard_Connect , @Visa_IND . This card will be a driving force for India's digital economy, making cutting edge payment solutions accessible to millions https://t.co/jK6rSSsr8X pic.twitter.com/y01yD7PMSc — Bhavish Aggarwal (@bhash) May 15, 2019

6. Corporate accounts

Ola performs several business meetings with the heads of various organizations where they promote Ola and convince corporate managers and employees to use Ola cabs for their business travels. Reduced rates are charged from these corporates as demand increases. With these B2B tie-ups, Ola earns a higher sales volume.

7. Delivery service – FoodPanda

With FoodPanda acquisition , Ola successfully entered into online food delivery segment. Ola is expected to take on UberEats and Swiggy , increase its profits, and thus develop a strong position in the food delivery market soon.

#PandasPlate : Panda brings food together 🙂 pic.twitter.com/r9xkD3U4R9 — foodpanda India (@foodpandaIndia) June 26, 2018

8. Ola Prime Play

Ola has made a partnership with Microsoft , Sony Liv, Apple Music, Audio Compass, etc. to provide commuters in-cab personalized entertainment. Ola makes money on some of those rides providing entertainment services. Ola is charging passengers Rs 20  as a convenience fee for in-cab entertainment .

Changing the on road commute for passengers #Olaplay by @Olacabs . This was a pleasant surprise on #delhi roads and a much needed delight pic.twitter.com/w10tLMUn7x — Siddharth Dhamija (@DhamijaSid) December 31, 2016

Future Revenue Stream: Ola Electric

Ola Cabs launched Ola Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd, which has been laying the foundation and will soon release an electric scooter to the market as its first product. In the next few years, Ola Electric is expected to build electric vehicles and batteries under Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) model for shared mobility. CEO Bhavish Aggarwal announced plans to recruit about 2,000 people globally to deliver the project. The projected demand for electric cars and batteries in the coming years makes Ola Electric one of the biggest future revenue streams for Ola. [ 9 ]

The taxi based model of Ola has served it quite well as their services are earnestly welcomed by almost everyone. An ultimate solution to reach destination promptly, conveniently and safely, Ola has truly redefined mobility for billions of people worldwide.

 References & more information

• ET Bureau (2020, March 17). Bike taxis a $5 billion opportunity: Ola . Economic Times
• Kashyaap, S. (2020, Mar 21). Ola offers Rs 30,000 cover for driver-partners and their spouses affected by a coronavirus . Your Story
• Dalal, M. (2020, June 10). How Ola is hunkering down to ride out the storm . Live Mint
• PTI (2020, Oct 18). Ola to set up a new tech center in Pune, hire 1,000 engineers . Economic Times.
• Singh, M. (2020, May 27). Ola Electric acquires Etergo to launch its own line of electric two-wheelers this year . Tech Crunch
• Mukherjee, S. (2019, Dec 18). Ola targets 1 million bike partners by next year . Economic Times
• Browne, R. (2020, May 20). SoftBank-backed Ola lays off 1,400 employees as coronavirus crisis hammers ride-hailing apps . CNBC
• Mahale, A. (2020, March 26). Ola to waive lease rental for drivers . The Hindu
• Panday, A. (2020, Aug 26). Ola Electric begins restructuring to hire 2000 people . Live Mint

Tell us what you think? Did you find this article interesting?                                                     Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments section below.

A management consultant and entrepreneur. S.K. Gupta understands how to create and implement business strategies. He is passionate about analyzing and writing about businesses.

Cancel reply

Please send me business models to My email address given below.

Hi Akhilesh,

I have added you to our newsletter and you will receive all the latest posts via email.

Happy Reading !

can u plz send me business models of ola and uber to my mail

Hi Naman, I have replied back to your email

Very knowledgeable and very impressive. Thanks for the info. Regards

I want a some more detail about ola. compare to other cab services in india ,who will be more capeble to earned more profit.

You may also like

How Does Coffee Meet Bagel Work?

Company: Coffee Meets Bagel Founders: Arum Kang, Dawoon Kang, Soo Kang Year founded: 2012 Headquarter: San Francisco   Products & Services: Online Dating, Internet Competitors: Tinder, Bumble, Hinge...

50 Types of Business Models (2022) – The Best Examples of Companies Using It

Last updated: Jan 30, 2021 Are you looking for ideas to unlock your long-term business value? If you shook your head in yes, remember that business model is one of the ways to streamline your business process...

How Does Popmoney Work ?

Last updated: May 18, 2020  Company: Popmoney (Division of Fiserv) CEO: Jeffery W. Yabuki Founders: Sanjeev Dheer Year founded: 2010 Headquarter: New York, NY Products & Services: Peer...

How Does Uber Eats Make Money?

Company: Uber Eats (a subsidiary of Uber Technologies Inc.) CEO: Dara Khosrowshahi Founders: Travis Kalanick and Garret Camp Year founded: 2014 Headquarter: San Francisco, California, USA Revenue (Quarterly...

How Does Whatsapp Make Money – Billion $ Startup

Last updated: March 21, 2020 Company: WhatsApp Inc (a subsidiary of Facebook Inc.) CEO: Jan Koum Year founded: 2009 Headquarter: Menlo Park, California, USA Number of Employees (2018): 200 User...

Uber Business Model | How does Uber make money

Company: Uber CEO : Dara Khosrowshahi Year founded : 2009 Headquarter : San Francisco, California, USA Number of Employees (Nov 2020): 26,900 Public or Private: Public Annual Revenue (2020): $14.1 Billion...

What is ProctorU, how it works and makes money?

Company: ProctorU Founders: Jarrod Morgan Year founded: 2008 CEO: Scott McFarland Headquarter: Birmingham, Alabama Number of Employees (Dec 2018): 400+ Type: Private Ticker Symbol: NYSE: UBER Annual Revenue (Dec...

How Does Zillow Make Money?

Company: Zillow Group Founders: Rich Barton & Lloyd Frink (former Microsoft executives) CEO: Spencer Rascoff Year founded: 2006 Headquarter: Seattle, Washington Industry: Online real estate marketplace Number...

Walmart Business Model | How does Walmart Make Money ?

Company: Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) Founders: Sam Walton Year founded: 1962 CEO: Doug McMillan Headquarter: Bentonville, Arkansas Number of Employees (2023): 2.1 million Type: Public Market Capitalization (July...

Tesla Business Model (2023) | Tesla Business Model Canvas

Last updated: Oct 9, 2021 Company: TESLA, Inc. CEO: Elon Reeve Musk Subsidiary: SolarCity, Tesla Grohmann Automation, Maxwell Technologies Founders: Elon Musk, Martin Eberhard, JB Straubel, Marc...

Recent Posts

• Who Owns the Palms Casino?
• Who Owns Consumer Cellular?
• Who Owns GHOST Energy?
• Who Owns Rockstar Energy?
• Who Owns Kia?
• Who Owns Etsy?
• Who Owns FuboTV?
• Who Owns GMC?
• Who Owns GamerSupps?
• Who Owns Chippendales?

Business Strategy Hub

• A – Z Companies
• Privacy Policy

Subscribe to receive updates from the hub!

• Red Queen Effect
• Blue Ocean Strategy
• Only the paranoid survives
• Co-opetition Strategy
• Mintzberg’s 5 Ps
• Ansoff Matrix
• Target Right Customers
• Product Life Cycle
• Diffusion of Innovation Theory
• Bowman’s Strategic Clock
• Pricing Strategies
• 7S Framework
• Porter’s Five Forces
• Strategy Diamond
• Value Innovation
• PESTLE Analysis
• Gap Analysis
• SWOT Analysis
• Strategy Canvas
• Business Model
• Mission & Vision
• Competitors

Ola Business Model: How a Commission-based Revenue Model and Strategic Expansion Propelled the Company to the Top

Discover the success behind ola's business model, including its commission-based revenue strategy and expansive growth tactics. learn how they propelled the company in becoming a leading player in the ride-hailing industry..

• overview#goto" data-overview-topic-param="timeline-of-ola-s-growth">Timeline of Ola's Growth
• overview#goto" data-overview-topic-param="fuelling-of-ola-s-dream">Fuelling of Ola's Dream
• overview#goto" data-overview-topic-param="acquisitions-and-investments">Acquisitions and Investments
• overview#goto" data-overview-topic-param="value-proposition">Value proposition
• overview#goto" data-overview-topic-param="revenue-streams">Revenue Streams
• overview#goto" data-overview-topic-param="key-partners">Key partners
• overview#goto" data-overview-topic-param="key-resources">Key resources
• overview#goto" data-overview-topic-param="key-activities">Key activities
• overview#goto" data-overview-topic-param="marketing-strategy">Marketing strategy
• overview#goto" data-overview-topic-param="competitive-analysis">Competitive analysis
• overview#goto" data-overview-topic-param="road-ahead">Road ahead for Ola
• overview#goto" data-overview-topic-param="learn">Learn from Ola's Business Model

Riding the wave of innovation and convenience, Ola has revolutionized the transportation industry in India. With a user-friendly mobile app and over 1.5 million registered drivers, Ola has made booking a ride easier than ever. But what exactly is the secret behind this Indian unicorn's success?

The business model, which focuses on receiving a commission for each ride that is booked on the platform and providing add-on services like vehicle rentals, and food deliveries, has helped the company grow. Ola controls the Indian transportation sector with a $7 billion valuation and backing from well-known investors like SoftBank and Tiger Global.

Join us as we go deep into this innovative Ola Business model and learn the tactics that have helped Ola rise to the top.

Timeline of Ola's Growth

Ola (Online Automotive Limited) backed by Ani Technologies is a massive ride-hailing company that has transformed the transportation sector in India and elsewhere. Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, two young businessmen who saw an opportunity to leverage technology to challenge the established transportation market, founded the company in 2010.

Source: Forbes

Bhavish had the idea for Ola while having a horrendous car experience on a road trip and became aware of the country's lack of dependable transportation options. He teamed up with co-founder Ankit , a college friend, and the two set out to create a platform that would connect riders with available drivers in their area.

Ola started as an auto-rickshaw hailing service because they are a common form of transportation in India. However, they immediately realized that they could accomplish more, so expanded to incorporate other kinds of vehicles, such as Ola and buses. Additionally, Ola introduced an Ola App that made it simple for customers to book a ride and locate the driver.

Ola competed fiercely with Uber, which already had a significant presence in India, but the company stood out by concentrating on the Indian market and adjusting its services to suit Indian clients' needs. Ola diversified to offer these services — Ola Auto, Ola Micro, Ola Prime, Ola Rentals, Ola Outstation, Ola Share, Ola foods, and Ola Lux.

Ola encountered significant legal difficulties as it increased in popularity, but the business was able to overcome them and come out stronger. One of the biggest cab aggregator firms in India today, Ola cabs has also grown to include operations in Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and other nations in the area. Ola cabs continue to innovate and enhance its services to better meet the needs of its customers as part of Ola's vision to create mobility for a billion people.

Fuelling of Ola's Dream

Ola has a history of continual innovation and expansion, and its funding story is no different. Ola's business model has garnered a diverse group of investors to help them in their quest with a total of $5 billion raised across 29 rounds, including debt funding and secondary market investments.

All of this began in 2011 when a group of angel investors Rohit Bansal and Kunal Bahl, recognized Ola's potential and invested $500k to launch the company. This was followed by fundraising rounds totaling $20 million from Matrix Partners and Tiger Global Management in 2013 and $5 million in 2012 from Tiger Global Management. But it wasn't until Ola raised a staggering $900 million in 2015 that it took off, making it a unicorn.

Ola expanded internationally and entered the Australian market in 2018 after raising $1 billion and acquiring Foodpanda in 2017. Following that, Ola expanded its operations there and Ola launched a $250 million fundraising campaign. Ola secured $250 million in 2019 to enter the London market and the electric vehicle (EV) industry.

In December 2021, Ola announced that its Series J financing round had been successful and that the company now had a market value of $7.3 billion. The company obtained around $500 million in debt via a Term Loan B (TLB) deal in 2021. 60 investors, including well-known ones like SoftBank Group, Tiger Global Management, Matrix Partners, Temasek Holdings, and Bhavish Aggarwal, have contributed to the company's development.

Ola's fundraising process was marked by resilience, research, and a global investor base that was drawn to the company's ambition. Thanks to its unique business model and innovative strategies, Ola is well-positioned to continue expanding and revolutionizing the transportation industry.

Acquisitions and Investments

Ola has made several strategic acquisitions to expand its offerings and gain a foothold in new markets and segments. Some of the notable acquisitions made by Ola include:

In May 2015, Ola acquired "Taxi For Sure" for a reported 200 million dollars. This acquisition helped Ola expand its reach and increase its market share in the industry.

In 2015, Ola acquired "Geotagg," a trip-planning applications company to strengthen its bus shuttle service.

In May 2016 Ola acquired "Qarth," mobile payments company in an attempt to strengthen its mobile wallet service Ola Money launched in November last year.

In December 2017, Ola expanded its presence in the food delivery market by acquiring "Foodpanda."

In April 2018, Ola acquired "Ridlr," a public transportation app, to expand its transportation options to include buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation,

In May 2020, Ola made a significant move into the electric vehicle market with the acquisition of Amsterdam-based "Etergo BV," a manufacturer of electric scooters. This acquisition was aimed at positioning Ola as a leader in sustainable transportation options.

In October 2021, Ola acquired "Geo Spoc" to build the next generation of location technology.

In March 2022, Ola acquired "Avail Finance," a financial services startup that serves the blue-collar workforce, as the ride-hailing giant looks to expand its financial services offerings.

Apart from these acquisitions Ola also has made significant investments in MSwipe, Ola fleet technologies, and Vogo .

These acquisitions and investments have helped Ola to establish itself as a one-stop shop for all transportation needs and to stay ahead of the competition.

Value proposition

For customers looking for quality cab services, Ola's on-demand transportation service offers a convenient flawless experience. With just a few clicks on Ola's app, Ola users can select from a selection of priced, flexible ride options that are unrivaled in quality and trustworthiness.

Source: Ola

Their in-ride amenities, including entertainment, WiFi, and other tools, are designed to make the trip as comfortable as possible. Only the most dependable and experienced drivers are permitted to operate the vehicle.

Furthermore, their operational customer care strategy ensures minimal wait times and the flexibility to stop multiple times en route. They also provide a variety of payment options, including cashless ones, to satisfy the needs of even the pickiest traveler.

Drivers have an unparalleled opportunity to control their financial future thanks to Ola's platform, which allows them to set their own hours and earn money by providing rides. Their ability to arrange rides for commuters increases their financial potential even further.

They also have a 24-hour helpline and leased cars, which provide additional assistance. Overall, the Ola Business Model aims at providing commuters and drivers with unrivaled value in the transportation industry.

Revenue Streams

The business model of ola makes money from the following streams:

Fixed Share from Ola Trip (Commission on each trip)

Ola charges a portion of the total fare for each ride booked through its platform; the percentage of commission is typically 15% on average; this revenue stream is a significant source of income for the company, and because it provides a wide range of trips, it points to multiple earnings.

Price Per Distance

In addition to the base rate, Ola also charges for the distance traveled which may vary depending on the region.

Ride Time Fare (Additional Fees Determined by Time Needed for Pickup and Drop-Off )

The total cost of the ride also depends on how long it takes to pick up and drop off passengers; fees are determined by the total number of minutes.

Surge Pricing

As part of its peak pricing, Ola makes money by charging an additional price per km during rush hours and in specific areas (increased fees during peak hours). Based on variables like the time of booking, the vehicle selected, the location, etc., several ranges are chosen.

Advanced Booking Charges

Ola charges customers for the service of booking a ride in advance, this feature allows customers to book a ride for a later time.

Airport Rides

Ola charges customers for the service of booking a ride from or to an airport.

Convenience Fees

Ola charges customers for the service of booking a ride for their convenience, this feature allows customers to book a ride from a specific location or at a specific time.

Ola cabs Leasing

Ola purchases fleets of cars for drivers who cannot afford to purchase their own vehicles. Rentals must pay a set fee for a cab and a refundable security deposit when renting a car. After deducting Ola's commission, the revenue from each trip is distributed to the drivers.

Corporate Tie-ups

Ola partners with corporates to convince employers to use the Ola cars at reduced rates.

Ola Prime Play

Ola Play provides an enjoyable medium inside the cab for commuters who enjoy entertainment on their journey. It has worked with Sony Liv, Apple Music, and other services to achieve consumer convenience for this reason. As a means of generating cash for Ola cabs, this would see a little increase in the fee for riders.

Regular users of Ola can sign up for membership subscriptions that come with benefits like free WiFi, priority bookings, and no surge pricing.

Ola financial services

Ola separated its financial services operations from its parent company ANI Technologies in 2019 and established Ola Financial Services Pvt Ltd.

Source: Ola Wallet

In collaboration with SBI and VISA, Ola has developed an Ola credit card as one of its business models to roll out Ola Money Hospicash, Ola Money Postpaid, and Ola Money Mobile Wallet. Customers of the Ola Money credit card receive a variety of advantages and rewards, such as up to 7% back on rides with Ola and the first year is free of annual fees.

In 2017, Ola acquired Foodpanda India, a food delivery company, through which Ola began its own food delivery services, allowing customers to order food from local restaurants and have it delivered to their doorstep. Ola earns revenue from this service through a fixed share of each successful delivery.

Ola also had Ola Cafes in various locations but it is no longer available.

In-house brands or cloud kitchen

Ola Kitchen is a food delivery service offered by Ola, where customers can order food from the Ola App and have it delivered from Ola's own kitchens in select cities in India. Ola's focus on in-house brands or cloud kitchens is a strategy to control food delivery and food costs and to have better control of the customer experience.

Ola Store/Ola Dash

Ola Store also known as Ola Dash not only offers a convenient and efficient way to fulfill your daily needs but also serves as a profitable venture for Ola.

Ola takes a commission on each sale made through the platform and charges merchants a fee for listing their products and additional services.

Ola Pedal bicycle-sharing service from Ola offers a unique way to explore the city while being eco-friendly and cost-effective. With the ability to rent bicycles by the hour, day, or week and unlock them with the Ola App, it's never been easier to enjoy the freedom of cycling. They also make it convenient to return the bicycle to any Ola docking station in the city. This Ola service is currently available in select cities in India.

Ola Electric

With a steadfast determination to revolutionize the automotive industry and promote sustainability, Ola Electric Mobility successfully launched its inaugural electric vehicle in August 2021. As part of their next ambitious undertaking, the company unveiled their S1 Series electric scooters at the esteemed NADA EV expo in Nepal on September 22nd, 2022.

This bold move towards global expansion serves as yet another step towards establishing India as the epicenter of the electric vehicles revolution. The Ola EVs are now available for booking and the company has reported an impressive sales figure of nearly 150,000 units in the year 2022 alone.

Future Factory

The Ola Future Factory is an advanced manufacturing facility built in just 11 months, powered by over 3,000 AI-driven robots. It is the world's most advanced, sustainable, and largest two-wheeler factory with a carbon-negative footprint and a 100% women-powered workforce. The factory is located in Tamil Nadu, India, with a 500-acre facility size and an annual production capacity of 10 million units.

Key partners

To provide its services, Ola works with a variety of significant partners. Ola's main commercial partners include:

Automobile manufacturers

Ola has partnered with several automakers to provide a fleet of vehicles for its drivers.

Banks and financial institutions

Ola has collaborated with several banks and financial organizations to provide its drivers with financing choices. Among these are alliances with ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and Axis Bank.

Technology partners

To offer its clients a seamless and effective experience, Ola has teamed with several technology firms.

Insurance Business

Ola has worked with several insurance providers to offer insurance protection for its drivers and passengers.

Government Organisations

Ola has partnered with several government organizations to offer its services to the public. This includes collaborations with the Indian Ministry of Road Transport and Highways where Ola Mobility Institute, the research arm of Ola, released India's first Ease of Moving Index in 2018, which provided a comprehensive action plan for cities to enhance their public transportation systems and enhance overall mobility.

Local partners

To offer its services in particular areas or cities, Ola has also teamed with local businesses. This includes collaborations with regional taxi services as well as other ride-hailing businesses.

Key resources

These resources are crucial to the development of the business and are required for Ola to offer its services. To guarantee the company's future expansion and success, Ola's management must efficiently manage and deploy these resources.

The fleet of automobiles

Ola's core resource is its fleet of automobiles, which it makes available to its drivers. The company works with many automakers to provide its customers with a selection of vehicles.

Ola driver-partners

Because they are in charge of providing customers with the company's services, Ola's drivers are an essential resource. Ola employs a considerable number of drivers who pick up and drop off passengers.

Ola uses technology to provide its services to customers. Through the company's mobile app, customers can schedule and pay for rides. The business also makes use of technologies like GPS and mapping to give accurate pickup and drop-off locations, real-time tracking, and communication between drivers and clients.

Ola has a lot of information on its users, such as their preferences and ride histories, which it uses to tailor its services and its marketing campaigns.

Intellectual property

Ola's exclusive technology, including its smartphone app, and trademarks are regarded as essential resources because they give the company a competitive edge.

Financial resources

Ola has access to a sizable amount of cash, including the money it has raised from investors and the profits it makes from its operations, which it may use to grow its operations, make investments in cutting-edge technology, and buy out rival businesses.

Physical assets

Ola has many different types of physical assets, including office buildings, warehouses, call centers, and other facilities that help the business run.

Human resources

Ola employs significant employees who are in charge of a variety of tasks, including marketing, operations, engineering, and customer service. These staff members are crucial since they ensure the seamless operation of the business.

Key activities

The Indian startup Ola takes part in several key activities. Among Ola's principal activities are some of the following:

Maintenance of the Ola mobile application

The Ola mobile app is the main method for users to book and pay for rides. To make the Ola application more user-friendly and effective, the firm is constantly updating and improving it.

Driver recruitment and onboarding

Ola is always looking for new driver-partners to join its platform. It also offers new drivers training and support to help them understand how to use the app and how to provide excellent customer service.

Managing its fleet of vehicles

Ola partners with automobile manufacturers to provide a fleet of vehicles for its drivers, and it also manages the maintenance and upkeep of these vehicles.

Marketing and promoting the Ola brand

Ola undertakes marketing and promotional activities to attract new customers and retain existing ones. This includes advertising campaigns, partnerships, and promotions.

Managing relationships with partners

Ola works with various partners such as automobile manufacturers, financial institutions, technology companies, and insurance companies to provide its services. It manages these relationships to ensure that they are mutually beneficial and to leverage the strengths of each partner.

Managing and analyzing data

Ola collects data on its customers' preferences and ride history, which it can use to improve its services and target its marketing efforts. The company's data analytics team is responsible for managing and analyzing this data.

Providing customer support

Ola provides customer support to address any issues or concerns customers may have. This includes a helpline, email support, and social media support.

Managing regulatory compliance

Ola is subject to various regulations and laws related to transportation and taxi services. The company is responsible for ensuring compliance with these regulations and for obtaining necessary licenses and permits.

Research and development

Ola invests in research and development to improve its technology and to stay ahead of the competition. This includes developing new features for its app, developing new vehicle technologies, and exploring new business models.

Like any other business, Ola incurs expenses to provide its services. The following are some of Ola's major expenses:

Vehicle expenses

Ola incurs expenses for the use and upkeep of its fleet of vehicles, including the cost of the vehicles themselves—whether purchased outright or leased—as well as gasoline, insurance, and maintenance.

Ola covers the costs associated with drivers, including background checks on potential drivers, training, support, and commissions or incentives for new drivers.

Technology maintenance

Ola must pay for the development and maintenance of its smartphone app in addition to the expense of its technological infrastructure, which includes servers, data centers, and other software.

Marketing and promotion costs

Ola spends money on things like advertising campaigns, collaborations, and promotions to market and promotes its brand.

Administrative costs

Ola has costs associated with its general and administrative operations, including rent, utilities, office supplies, and personnel wages.

Ola incurs costs for research and development activities such as testing new features, creating new technology and investigating new business strategies.

Legal and regulatory expenses

Ola incurs expenses for legal and regulatory compliance, such as obtaining necessary licenses and permits and complying with transportation and ride-hailing regulations.

Insurance expenses

Ola incurs expenses for insurance coverage for its vehicles, drivers, and passengers.

Customer Segmentation

Ola has consciously separated its customers into two groups: driver partners and riders.

Those who reserve rides via the Ola app are included in the riders group. These people have a range of options at their fingertips, such as City Taxi, Outstation, Rentals, and Ola Corporate.

The City Taxi and Outstation services, respectively, provide point-to-point transportation within a city and between two cities. The Rentals and Ola Corporate services, on the other hand, are specially created for hourly reservations and corporate transportation needs, respectively.

While those that use the Ola platform to connect with potential riders make up the driver segment. These drivers have the option of using their own vehicles or renting one from Ola. Furthermore, individuals have the option of choosing between full- or part-time employment schedules.

Ola also offers a Driver Partner program as part of its commitment to providing excellent service. This program offers participants the training and support they require to be successful as drivers on the Ola platform, ensuring a convenient and dependable service experience for the riders.

Customer Relationships

As a market leader in the ride-hailing industry, Ola has meticulously created a sophisticated strategy for establishing client relationships, with each element tailored to the distinct requirements and preferences of its broad clientele.

One of the most crucial customer connections Ola develops is that between users and cab drivers because the success of the platform depends on the satisfaction and trust of both parties. Ola promotes this relationship using a variety of resources, such as driver ratings and reviews, and a committed support staff to handle any issues that may arise during a journey.

Through the use of its self-serve app, which offers a variety of features like in-app payments, real-time ride tracking, and 24/7 customer assistance, Ola also develops a direct relationship with its riders. Additionally, the business utilizes user comments to continuously enhance its offerings, providing dependability and convenience for its riders.

Through the development of a Driver Partner program, Ola also fosters a direct relationship with its driver partners and provides them with the training and assistance they need to succeed on the platform. To keep its driver partners happy, the corporation also gives incentives and makes offers.

Ola caters to businesses through its Ola Corporate service, which enables businesses to book trips for their employees and automates the payment process through its digital wallet service, Ola Money.

Marketing strategy

Ola is making every effort to dominate the transportation sector. The company's marketing plan is a well-oiled machine designed to increase clientele, enhance brand recognition, and broaden geographical reach.

Differentiated marketing

Using differentiated marketing ola gives its customers a variety of options, including outstation services, rentals, traditional taxis, and electric scooters. By doing this, Ola sets itself apart from its competitors. By providing such a wide range of cab booking services, the organization makes sure that everyone can find something.

Advertising and Promotion

To further establish its brand and attract customers, Ola doesn't shy away from investing heavily in advertising and promotion. The company's pricing strategy and promotional campaigns are designed to make its services more accessible to customers, thereby increasing its customer base.

Drip Marketing

To maintain client interest and foster customer loyalty, the business uses drip marketing. Utilizing social media sites like Facebook and Twitter allows businesses to communicate with customers, provide information, and respond to inquiries and concerns.

Partnerships

Ola collaborates and partners with a variety of businesses and organizations to broaden its reach. This enables the business to reach out to new customer groups and broaden its clientele.

Competitive analysis

In the highly competitive landscape of the ride-hailing industry, Ola, the Indian cab aggregator stands tall among its rivals. However, as with any thriving business, competition is inevitable.

At the forefront of Ola's competition stands Uber, the American multinational transportation network company. Both companies offer a similar service, providing ride-hailing and ride-sharing services to customers. However, unlike Ola, Uber boasts a larger global presence and a more substantial market share in many countries. In contrast, Ola holds a stronger presence and market share in India and some other countries, yet it still falls behind Uber in terms of global market share.

Grab, a Southeast Asian transportation and mobile technology startup is another tough competitor for Ola. With a solid presence in the area, Grab has grown its offerings to include food delivery and mobile payments.

Additionally, Ola is up against local rivals in many nations, such as Gojek in Indonesia and DiDi in China. Beyond ride-hailing, these businesses also provide a range of other services, such as food delivery and mobile payments.

Ola has managed to carve out a position for itself despite the fierce competition by keeping a laser-like focus on the Indian market and providing a wide range of services, including cabs, electric scooters, rentals, and outstation services. Ola has been able to expand internationally and get a sizable market share in India because of its strategic approach.

What does the road ahead look like for Ola?

Ola Electric, a trailblazer in the electric vehicle industry in India, has revealed an ambitious plan to revolutionize the sector with the unveiling of its indigenous lithium-ion cell, NMC 2170.

The company has set its sights on mass production of the cell from its state-of-the-art Gigafactory by 2023, which is expected to significantly enhance its manufacturing capabilities.

The company also intends to invest heavily in R&D to create advanced cell technologies, thus enabling it to strengthen its position as a leader in the electric vehicle space.

In addition to this, Ola Electric mobility pvt has announced its intention to introduce a diverse range of electric two-wheelers, including scooters and motorcycles soon.

The company also has plans to expand its reach to markets beyond India, including Europe and Latin America, solidifying its position as a global leader in the electric vehicle space.

This is further reinforced by the company's goal to launch its first Ola electric car by 2024. Ola aims to have six different products in the market by 2027.

Furthermore, Ola EV is also set to launch 200 Experience Centres across the country, making maintenance of their electric scooters more convenient for their customers.

Additionally, the company has announced plans to launch its own electric vehicle cab service in Bengaluru, with an aim to scale up to 10,000 cabs in one year. In addition, Ola will soon introduce Ola Maps, its own navigating tool, in India.

With such ambitious plans, Ola Electric is poised to leave a lasting impact on the electric vehicle industry, both in India and globally.

Marketing Strategies to Learn from the Business Model of Ola

User-friendly mobile app.

Ola's business model emphasizes the importance of having a user-friendly mobile app as it serves as the primary interface for customers to access their services.

Variety of options

Ola offers a range of transportation options including cars, bikes, and autos, which caters to different customer needs and preferences.

Network of partners

Ola has built a network of vehicle partners, which includes individual car and bike owners, as well as taxi companies, to expand its reach and offer more services.

Value-added services

Ola provides value-added services such as in-app payments, live tracking, and 24/7 customer support, which contributes to a seamless and convenient customer experience.

International expansion

Ola cabs' journey has expanded to international markets in Asia, Africa, and Australia, which highlights the potential of identifying and targeting new markets.

The Ola business model is a prime example of how Ola bridged the gap between technology, innovation, and traditional industries and created new opportunities for growth and success. Check out related articles on Tesla's marketing strategy for actionable insights.

• popover#mouseOver mouseout->popover#mouseOut" data-popover-translate-x="-25%" , data-popover-translate-y="-220%"> Copy link
• bottom-bar#toggleTagsSection"> popover#mouseOver mouseout->popover#mouseOut" data-popover-translate-x="-25%" , data-popover-translate-y="-220%"> Copy Link
• bottom-bar#toggleTagsSection">

You'll love these articles too!

Co-founder & CEO at Flexiple ($3mn+ revenue, bootstrapped) & buildd.co | Helping Startup...

Monster Energy Marketing Strategy: How Monster become a market leader by 'Unleashing the Beast'?

Learn about Monster's iconic marketing strategy and advertising campaigns. Read how Monster aces the 4Ps of marketing mix - Product, Price, Promotion & Placement.

Co-founder at Flexiple, buildd & Remote Tools ($3 million revenue, bootstrapped)

Breaking Down The Maruti Suzuki Marketing Strategy: How they became a brand that rules India's automobile market

Learn about Maruti Suzuki's iconic marketing strategy and advertising campaigns. Read how Maruti Suzuki's aces the 4Ps of marketing mix - Product, Price, Promotion & Placement.

Clinical Research | Data Analytics

Partner at Deloitte | Banking & Capital Markets | Cloud Strategy | FinOps Offering Leader | Board...

Colgate marketing strategy: How A Household Name Reached The Top

Learn about Colgate's iconic marketing strategy and advertising campaigns. Read how Colgate aces the 4Ps of marketing mix - Product, Price, Promotion & Placement.

Community at Buildd

There's an air of mystery about Sanbi 😮. They haven't filled their profile yet.

Researching and synthesising some of the best businesses online.

Ola Cabs Business Plan: Attach Car to Ola Cabs & Earn Up to 1 Lac Monthly

A very famous car rental services company which has its roots in Bangalore, India. Hereby Ola Cabs offers you the mind boggling opportunity to the people for attaching their owned cars with the OLA and scraping a great amount as profit. As anyone can adjoin their very own cars to OLA and earn a high profit in any densely populated Indian city whereupon the OLA services are available. This article will help you with Ola cab business plan.

Acclaimed to be one of the most rapidly growing service provider of Taxi in India. On the other hand there are other organizations which do business in the same segment. The major competitors include Meru Cabs or Ola Cabs. So in this blog we will only discuss about Ola Cab. The very first question that strikes anybody would be “How to get a car that is affixed or collaborated with Ola Cabs?

The second and the most important question: What is the scope of making a high enough profit to opt for Ola? The third and a hectic yet tiring and essential question is: What will be the documentation and procedure which should be followed? The Ola cabs Mumbai business is a great way to earn according to the experts.

What is the procedure that could be followed for becoming an Ola Partner?

The first and foremost thing which needs to be done for Ola cab business is buying a car. There are various types of cars available in Ola Cabs such as Ola Sedan, Ola Prime & Ola mini. Hatch back cars fall into the category of Ola mini such as Maruti Suzuki Swift, Maruti Indica, and Maruti Ritz etc. Maruti Swift Desire, Swift Dezine, Toyota Etios etc. While on the other hand in the Ola Prime category cars such as Mahindra XUV, Toyota Innova etc.

The thing which should be brought to notice is that every category has their very own customized plans for incentive. Buying a hatch back car may limit or cap the profit which will be far less in comparison with the category of the sedan cars. Likewise, the SUVs will for sure pull in high profits than the Sedans.

You also can decide to adjoin the car in 2 or may be in all the categories of the Ola cars available. For instance if you went ahead with the buying decision of Sedan car then you can affix the car in sedan as well as mini category. Likewise, if you have made your mind to go for a SUV then you can conjoin the car in all mentioned car categories which is sedan, prime and mini.

So other important thing brought to notice is that if sedan could be affixed in the mini category, then the incentive plan for you will be according to plan implemented according to the mini sub category.

In terms of profit which car type is preferable?

One cannot say which is more beneficial in terms of profit, as I did had a word with numerous car owners they did say that the Sedan category is more profitable than any other category. Advisable thing to do is to attach mini and sedan both in the category. In other words Ola business profit depends on the type of car attached to the Ola rental service.

What is the purpose of attaching a car in multiple category?

There is no two opinion about the rising numbers of bookings which you will probably get. Therefore in some cases there are less sedan bookings in comparison with the bookings for mini in your very own sedan cars. And what you will be paid according to the incentive plan of mini cars.

Affixing car to Ola as an owner

The truth here is an owner is not a driver. Which in simpler words means that you will have to look for a driver with a TR (transport) license. All the invoice and bookings can be checked with the help of mobile application. You being owner will get the earliest notification for total fair raised and bookings done so far. As that also clears the fact that the driver in no situation could betray you with any kind of frauds or cheap tricks. So there is no chance of any kind of cheating which could be done as each and every piece of detail will be conveyed to the cell phone number with text messages.

So with the above information one can come to know what and how something needs to be done when wanting to get in the Ola car rental business.

Related Articles

Startupopinions

Our content is delivered by a team of authors and contributors from multidisciplinary backgrounds, experiences, and various expertise. Together we deliver content which adds value to your life and we serve our readers only with authentic content.

How to Tie up My Car With Ola Cabs in 2024?

This article discusses how an entrepreneur can start a car rental business in India by attaching cars with Ola Cabs.

Table of Contents

Why Attaching a Car With Ola Cabs Is a Brilliant Idea For Starting a Business?

If you’re looking to start a business in India, driving with Ola Cabs is a brilliant idea. Here’s why:

• Ola Cabs is one of the most popular ride-sharing apps in India, so you’ll be able to get a lot of customers.
• It’s a very affordable way to start your business, and you can make good money with it.
• You can be your boss and set your hours.
• It’s a great way to meet new people and make new friends.
• You’ll get to see different parts of the country and experience different cultures.

So if you’re looking for a great business opportunity in India, attaching a car with Ola Cabs is definitely the way to go.

How Much Does It Cost to Purchase Ola Ecosystem Cabs?

The cost of purchasing an Ola cab and using the app will vary depending on your specific needs. However, overall, it’s an affordable option for starting a business in India.

Who Can Become an Ola Partner? 

Anyone can become an Ola Partner. You must be at least 21 years old, have a valid driver’s license, and have a four-door car that is less than 10 years old.

What Are the Documents Necessary for Becoming an Ola Partner?

If you’re looking to start a business in India with Ola Cabs, there are a few documents you’ll need to have in order:

• A valid driver’s license
• Your vehicle’s registration papers
• Proof of insurance
• A valid ID (Passport, PAN card , etc.)

Once you have all of these things in order, you can fill out an application to become an Ola partner. Once your application is approved, you’ll be able to start picking up passengers and earning money.

Types of car’s Ola Provides to their Customers 

• OLA Autos(Auto-Rickshaw)
• OLA OutStation
• OLA Share (Share Your Cab With other customers)
• OLA Rentals (You can Rent a Car)

How Much Money and Bonus Make with Ola Cabs?

If you have a co-founder for your business and want to benefit from features such as limited liability and funding, you can register as a Private Limited Company. For each ride completed, OLA takes a 10% commission on the total bill amount, which is calculated by the OLA app. OLA also offers the following bonuses:

• Peak Hour Timing : Peak hours are from 7:00 AM to 12:30 PM and from 5:00 PM to 11:00 PM.
• Bonuses for Completing 12 Rides : You will receive a ₹4500  bonus for completing 12 rides in a single day.
• Bonuses for Airport Drops: You will earn an ₹800 bonus for each airport drop.
• Bonuses During Peak Hours: For each ride completed during peak hours, you will receive a ₹250 bonus. The more rides you complete during these hours, the more bonuses you earn.

How Much Money Can One Make From Being an Ola Partner?

As an Ola partner in India, you can make a good income by providing safe and reliable rides to customers. How much you earn will depend on factors like the city you drive in, the demand for rides, and how often you drive. In general, partners can expect to make around ₹ 1.5-2 lakhs per month after expenses. This can be a great way to earn extra income or even start your own business.

What Are the Rules to Drive in India?

If you’re thinking of starting a business in India, one of the first things you’ll need to do is figure out the driving rules. In India, there are different rules and regulations for driving than there are in other countries. Here are a few things you’ll need to keep in mind when driving in India: 

• You must be at least 18 years old to drive in India. 
• You will need to get a Driving Permit before you can drive commercially in India. 
• You will need to register your car with the Indian authorities. 
• You should get insurance for your car before driving in India. 
• You will need to follow all traffic laws while driving in India. 
• Be aware of road conditions and hazards while driving in India.

 What Forms Needed for Registration With RTO?

If you’re looking to start a business in India with Ola Cabs, you’ll need to register your business with the RTO (Regional Transport Office). Here’s what forms you’ll need to fill out:

• Application for registration of motor vehicle: This form is available at the RTO office and must be filled out in triplicate.
• Registration certificate: This will be issued by the RTO after the registration process is complete.
• Taxation certificate
• Fitness certificate
• Insurance certificate: You will need to present a valid insurance policy when registering your vehicle with the RTO.

What OLA Business Model?

Ola’s business model encompasses various revenue streams and business segments, evolving from its origins as a taxi rental fleet to a diversified platform. Key elements of Ola’s business model include:

Origins and Expansion

• Initially started as a taxi rental fleet business.
• Expanded services to include ride-hailing, car rentals, outstation round trips, and quick-commerce through Ola Store.

Revenue Streams

•  Earns revenue through commissions from ride-hailing services.
• Facilitates vehicle sales via its vehicle commerce platform.
• Partnerships with corporations and delivery services contribute to revenue.

Key Partners

• Collaborates with drivers, car owners, motorcar manufacturers, technology partners, insurance partners, payment partners, GPS service providers, banks, cloud kitchens, food delivery providers, grocery stores, and delivery partners.

Key Activities

• Manages technical platforms, day-to-day operations, marketing, and sales and conducts business analysis.

Key Resources

•  Utilizes a digital platform, maintains a team of drivers and support professionals, leverages analytical data, and benefits from a strong brand name.

Types of Business Models in the OLA Platform

Revenue Model

• Involves a fixed share from Ola Trip.
• Utilizes a price-per-distance model.
• Offers add-on services such as vehicle rentals.

Customer Segments

• Targets users of taxi services.
• Engages corporate clients.

Emphasis on User-Friendly Services

• Prioritizes a user-friendly mobile app.
• Provides a variety of options for customers.

Winning Revenue Model

• Gains access to significant capital from investors.
• Achieves operational profits.
• Manages various physical assets.
• Excels in partner management, data analysis, customer support, and regulatory compliance.

Ola Electric

• Operates as a subsidiary focusing on electric vehicles.
• Benefits from significant capital, physical assets, partner management, data analysis, customer support, and regulatory compliance.

1. If you’re thinking about starting a business in India, one of the first things you’ll need to do is figure out your budget. Ola Cabs can be a great option for transportation, but you’ll need to make sure you have enough money to cover the cost of attaching your car to their system.

2. First, you’ll need to consider the cost of attaching your car to Ola Cabs. This will include the initial fee as well as any monthly charges. You’ll also need to factor in the cost of gas and maintenance for your vehicle. Next, you’ll need to think about how many rides you’ll be able to give each day. This will help you determine how much money you can realistically expect to make. Keep in mind that demand for rides will fluctuate throughout the day, so you are always busy.

3. Finally, you’ll need to set aside some money for marketing and advertising. This is important to help get your business off the ground. You can start by creating some social media accounts and posting about your new business venture. You may also want to consider handing out flyers.

If you’re looking to start a business in India, Ola Cabs is a great option. By attaching your car to Ola Cabs, you can get started quickly and easily without having to worry about the expensive costs of setting up your own business. Plus, with Ola Cabs’ large customer base, you’ll be sure to find plenty of customers for your new business. So if you’re ready to take the plunge and start a business in India, be sure to consider Ola Cabs as your first step. To clarify your legal aspects regarding this, contact Vakilsearch today.

What is the business strategy of Ola Franchise?

The business strategy of Ola is to provide a mobile app that allows passengers to use maps and GPS to find a free vehicle taxi nearby. The service enables immediate booking of a car/bike/auto and even used to offer ridesharing options.

What type of business is Ola?

Ola is a ride-hailing service that provides transportation services through a mobile app. It offers various types of hailing services, from cabs to autos; from economic to luxury vehicles; from intercity rides to intracity rides.

How many people can go in an Ola Cabs?

The number of people that can go in an Ola Cab depends on the type of vehicle booked. Ola offers various types of vehicles, including sedans, hatchbacks, and SUVs, which can accommodate different numbers of passengers.

How many people use Ola daily?

The number of people who use Ola daily is not publicly available. However, Ola has a large customer base and operates in over 25 cities across India.

How many are allowed to sit in Ola auto?

Ola Auto can accommodate up to three passengers.

How many stops can we add in Ola drive?

Ola Drive allows users to avail of personalized packages based on their travel duration and distance.

Does Ola allow multiple stops?

Yes, Ola allows multiple stops in a single ride.

Can we book multiple rides in Ola?

Yes, users can book multiple rides in Ola by using the 'Ride Later' feature in the Ola app. This feature allows users to schedule multiple rides in advance

Other Related Articles

• Pvt Ltd Company Registration
• Complete Details on Company Incorporation Steps
• How to Register a Business in India ?

How to Increase UPI Limit in Bank and Other UPI Apps?

How to Increase UPI Limit? Open UPI App: Launch the UPI app on your smartphone. This could be any UPI-enabled…

How to Reset/Change UPI Pin in GPay, PhonePe, Paytm?

How to Change UPI Pin? Open UPI App: Launch the UPI app on your smartphone. This can be any UPI-enabled…

How to Create UPI ID in Different Methods? – A Guide

How to Create UPI ID? To create a UPI (Unified Payments Interface) ID, you need to follow these general steps:…

Gruha Jyothi Scheme Benefits, and Apply Online & Offline

Overview of the Scheme Name of Scheme Karnataka Gruha Jyothi Scheme. Launched on 2023. Benefits Free of Cost Electricity. No…

Understanding G-Secs and How to Invest in Them for Business?

G-secs refer to government securities or, in other words, loans or capital issued by the government. The biggest advantage associated…

Startups to Continue Receiving a Tax Holiday

Businesses of all sizes and types have been having a tough year courtesy of the coronavirus pandemic. The Indian government…

How the Rupee Depreciation is Enticing NRIs in Real Estate?

The Indian currency has depreciated as much as 5.2% against the US dollar in 2022 so far. The rupee’s depreciation…

Subscribe to our newsletter blogs

Ola Business Model: How Does Ola Make Money?

• Post category: Business Models
• Reading time: 16 mins read

Ola , one of the leading ride-sharing companies in India, has a unique business model that has set it apart from other players in the market. In this article, we will take a look at how Ola makes money and how its business model works.

How does Ola make money?

Ola earns money through ride commissions, Ola money, advertising, and Ola Credit Card. It charges a 20% to 30% commission for every ride booked through its app. The commission is charged based on the total cost of each ride and is collected directly from drivers. Ola also earns money from its car leasing partnerships and Ola electric scooters.

Also read: How Does Klarna Make Money? [Business Model]

History of the Ola Business Model

Ola, the most used ride-sharing company in India, was founded in 2010. It has more than 100 million registered users in 110 cities across the country.

Ola was founded by Bhavish Aggarwal , an Indian Institute of Technology Bombay graduate, who began working on his idea in 2008 to solve a problem he faced while trying to get home late at night after attending a conference in Bangalore. He couldn’t find a cab to return and that is how he realized the need for a better transportation system in India.

The idea was good enough to attract investors, but nobody wanted it initially as they thought there was no money in this sector but Aggarwal didn’t give up. And in 2010, Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati founded Ola.

The company started off with just three employees and a few hundred cabs in Bangalore. From there, it rapidly scaled up its operations across the country. In 2013, Ola raised $210 million from SoftBank Corp., becoming one of the largest Series A rounds of financing in the history of consumer Internet space.

Ola joined hands with Microsoft to build artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities for its mobile app, which will be powered by the Azure cloud platform and help create a better transportation experience for all its users.

The alliance with Microsoft will also help Ola develop a deeper understanding of customer needs and preferences, as well as identify new areas for innovation. In the near future, the company plans to roll out features like multi-modal experiences (combining public transport with ride-sharing) and autonomous cars.

Also read: How Does GetUpside Make Money? [Business Model]

How Does Ola Make Money? – Revenue Model and Sources

Let’s now discuss the major sources of revenue for Ola and how it works to optimize them for maximum profits. Ola while much smaller than Uber in sheer valuation, stands head to head against the competitor in India. Both these companies take up almost 50% of the ride-sharing market each.

So what makes Ola stand out today? This lies within the revenue figures and the partnerships.

Here’s how Ola Cabs makes money.

1. Ride Commissions

The #1 source of income for Ola is through its ride commissions. This part is similar to how other ride-sharing businesses operate, including Uber.

Ola charges a 20% to 30% commission per trip to the drivers. This accounts for a majority of Ola’s profits in 2022.

Here are the different fees that Ola charges:

• The Actual Time of the Ride: For calculating the total fare, the time from the pick up to the drop site is taken into account. The entire ride is calculated in a matter of seconds.
• Wait time: When a customer orders and pays for a service, but does not show up within the agreed-upon time frame, the waiting fee will be charged.
• Ola Prime Play: They charge a convenience fee for the cabs, which offer in-cab entertainment. If you select a pickup and drop off at the airport, this is charged to you by the customer..
• Toll & Parking Fee: This is dependent on the toll junctions traveled and the car parking service utilized.
• Cancellation Fee: If a passenger cancels a journey, Ola charges a cancellation fee. Service tax, as well as various taxes, are included in the overall cost of transportation.

Also read: How Does Houzz Make Money? [Business Model]

2. Ola Credit Card

Ola has partnered with SBI bank to launch its Ola SBI Credit Card. This is a lucrative credit card for every regular Ola user as it offers a fixed 7% cashback on every ride with no upper limits.

The cashback is then credited back to your Ola money wallet which you can use for future rides or pay for other products which accept Ola money wallet payments.

The Ola Credit Card helps the company gain additional revenue from late fees, interest charges, EMI convenience fees, and others.

3. Advertising on Cabs

The launch of the Ola Prime Sedan opened up a new way to digitally advertise within the cabs. Ola partners with large brands like Microsoft, Apple Music, Sony Digital to offer in-cab entertainment through the tablets fitted in the cars. Along with that Ola also allows banner advertising on their leased cabs increasing the revenue generated through each cab.

4. Ola Cab Leasing

There is an upfront charge of Rs 4000, as well as non-refundable and refundable security deposits ranging from Rs 21,000 to Rs 31,000. In addition, a daily fee of Rs 700 -1150 is charged to the drivers for operating the vehicle, with travel fare revenue going to the driver. During the COVID lockdown in 2020, Ola waived off the lease payments for all cab drivers to ensure they are able to recover from the losses during the lockdowns.

5. Corporate Partnerships

Ola partners with large businesses to offer cab services to its employees. The rides that employees avail are counted against the company’s account. In return, the partnering company is charged lower tariffs while Ola gets higher sales volumes from these businesses.

6. Ola Food Delivery

This service is one of the newest entrants of Ola. After acquiring the Indian business of FoodPanda for $200 million, Ola started its own food delivery service right from the app.

While it has limited options at the moment, Ola Food is an additional revenue source that the company aims to capitalize on in the future.

7. Ola Electric

Ola Electric scooters are one step towards clean fuel transportation. The prices of these scooters start from INR 100,000 (INR 1 lakh). The company is working on building enough charging stations so you never have to worry about where the next charge will come from.

After purchase, charging will be free at the Ola charging stations for the first 6 months after which you can pay a nominal fee for charging right from your Ola Electric app.

Also read: How Does Turo Make Money? [Turo Business Model]

Ola Marketing Strategy – How Ola Gained Market Share in India

India is one of the few countries where getting around can be quite a hassle. Mass urbanization is on the rise and so are new businesses that provide goods and services to this large group of urbanites. Taxi-hailing apps like Ola Cabs help commuters find their ride easily. It has all the right components that make it stand out from the competition.

Ola is a mobile app-based transportation network company whose headquarters are in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati in 2010. Though Uber gained immediate market share with its huge marketing budget, Ola lagged behind.

From then on Ola started capturing market share further and beyond to now become the leading cab service provider in India. Estimates suggest that Ola may have a 75% market share!

How did it achieve such a huge success?

1. Pull Customers With Discounts and Offers

The first step that Ola took was to pull customers in with regular discounts and offers. Instead of offering a first-time-only discount, Ola started offering first, third, fifth, and seventh ride discounts.

This helped them keep customers on while they focused on building other forms of marketing to pull customers in.

2. Affiliate Rewards

Ola began rewarding users to bring their friends on board. They offered free rides, money that’s credited automatically to their next ride, or discount coupons for both users.

The company continued to test out different ways to keep things new, and also keep users interested in sharing the app with as many users as possible.

This pushed the word-of-mouth marketing for Ola.

3. Lucrative Rewards for Drivers

Initially, drivers were offered daily incentives, a lot of rewards, and benefits for riding with Ola. They were guaranteed a fixed specific amount every day if they do not get any ride assigned. Apart from that, Ola drivers were also rewarded when they completed a certain number of trips per day.

These alone made it worth it for the drivers to jump onto the Ola ship and earn as much as possible. During the good ol’ days, drivers easily made INR 100,000 per month! That was more than many software developers!

4. Lower Pricing

India being a price-sensitive market when it comes to alternative services, Ola took up this opportunity to slash the prices as much as possible.

5. Higher Availability

Cabs in Ola are almost always available. If you are in a location where Ola serves, you’re highly likely to find a cab to travel. While Uber focused on improving its variety of cars, Ola fixed the main issue of not having a cab when required.

6. Building the Ecosystem

As with every company, Ola focused on building products that captured users into the ecosystem. With the introduction of financial products like Ola Credit Card, Ola Money, and Ola Postpaid users would end up using Ola for the benefits these services offered.

Along with that, Ola’s outstation services are one of the best in terms of pricing, accessibility, and ease of use. So users who wanted to travel out of town would automatically choose Ola.

Ola makes money by charging a flat 20% to 30% commission on every ride that users avail through the app.

Is Ola Profitable?

Ola announced an operating profit of Rs 89.82 crore for 2020-21 even though its income fell by over 65% during COVID-19 closures. According to reports, Ola is considering an IPO that could raise over $1 billion in the next few months.

How much does an Ola driver earn?

Depending on the number of rides and the type of car they drive, Ola drivers can earn anywhere from INR 30,000 to INR 80,000 per month!

What is the business model of Ola?

The Ola business model takes into account three of its strengths: the drivers, the riders, and the technology. With a powerful combo of all three, the business model has succeeded in capturing market share with ease.

And that brings us to the end of this article about how does Ola make money . Ola has a very strong business model due to its understanding of the Indian customer. Two IIT members who started out to solve their own problem have now created a business worth billions of dollars that serves Indians every day!

The Ola business model is worth understanding in-depth if you want to see what a product-market-fit and ecosystem building looks like!

If you like this article, you may also like: How does Gmail make money? [UPDATED]

You Might Also Like

How Does Affirm Make Money?

How Does BlockFi Make Money?

1mg.com Business Model: How Does 1mg Make Money? [Case Study]

Ola Electric

The products offered by Ola Electric include Ola S1 scooter models—Ola S1 Pro, Ola S1 Air, Ola S1 X+, Ola S1 X (2 kWh), and Ola S1 X (3 kWh), which are built on the current EV scooter Generation 2 platform. Compared to the Generation 1 platform, the Generation 2 platform improves several important aspects of the EV scooters, including motor power, battery performance, range, acceleration, and speed. 

The current line of second-generation EV scooters includes, 

• Ola S1 Pro – flagship premium EV scooter offers an extended driving range of up to 195 km, a top speed of 120 km per hour.
• Ola S1 Air – second premium EV scooter offering a driving range of 151 km with a 6 kW peak motor power.
• Ola S1 X+ – sold at a lower price than the Ola S1 Air, the Ola S1 X+ features a driving range of 151 km. 
• Ola S1 X (2 kWh) and Ola S1 X (3 kWh) –  offering a driving range of up to 151 km and a 3.5-inch segmented display available in two battery capacity configurations.

The company also intends to apply the same platform strategy to its recently unveiled motorbike lineup, which consists of the Diamondhead, Adventure, Roadster, and Cruiser models.

Furthermore, with the help of the Ola Electric website and the company’s digitally enabled pan-Indian sales and service network, the products are sold through a D2C omnichannel strategy. Consumers have two options for buying the Ola EV scooters – they can order them via the Ola Electric website or visit one of the nearest centres, where staff members will let them view and test drive the EV scooters before placing an order. The company guarantees a seamless ownership and post-purchase servicing experience through the widespread network.

Financial Highlights of Ola Electric

Balance sheet.

Income Statement

Cash Flow Statement

Inferences that can be drawn from the above statements are as follows 

• Revenue of the company significantly increased by 42% to INR 2,799 crore compared to INR 1,970 crore in FY 2022. 
• Net Loss reportedly halved to about INR 772.25 crore in FY 2023 from INR 1,522.33 crore in FY 2022. 
• Since the company is burning cash heavily, they are relying on capital financing to cover operational costs. 

NOTE – Ola is not a listed entity, so its financials are not reported on public domains. Therefore, the authenticity of these figures cannot be confirmed.

SWOT Analysis of Ola Electric

• Ola is leading the rapidly expanding electric two-wheeler market in India; Ola Electric is a pure EV player and a major force in the country’s electric vehicle landscape.
• Driven by a visionary founder, the company benefits from a team of seasoned leaders and has received several accolades, such as India 30 under 30 from Forbes India in 2014 and Entrepreneur of the Year from the Economic Times in 2017
• The company’s emphasis on R&D drives its internal capacity to create EV technology. Ola also conducts research and development (R&D) in the US, the UK, and India to develop innovative EV goods and essential EV parts, including motors, battery packs, and vehicle chassis.
• Ola has the biggest integrated and automated E2W manufacturing plant in India in terms of production capacity, and most of its EV components give them enhanced control of the supply chain.
• Currently, Ola Electric offers just a few scooter models, which might limit their appeal to a broader customer base with diverse needs.
• Building a robust service and after-sales network across India can take time and resources.
• Some initial batches of Ola scooters faced quality concerns. If not addressed effectively, this can damage the brand reputation and customer trust.

Opportunities

• The Indian electric two-wheeler market is projected to grow significantly in the coming years. This presents a big opportunity for the company to capture a large market share.
• Ola Electric can explore expanding its product range to cater to different segments, like high-performance electric scooters or motorcycles.
• It can also explore opportunities for vertical integration, such as setting up battery manufacturing facilities, to control costs and ensure supply chain resilience.
• The company is in the early stages of development. It lacks the extensive track record of more established players in the market. Adding fuel to fire, its operations have resulted in accumulated losses and a negative cash flow.
• Failure to capture and retain a loyal customer base could severely impact the business in all aspects.

Ola has emerged as a significant player in the Indian ride-hailing and electric two-wheeler market. The company is well-positioned to capitalise on the future growth in both these sectors. However, they face challenges like limited product range, a nascent service network, and intense competition from competitors. 

Addressing these weaknesses alongside navigating external threats like price moderation, battery technology, and charging infrastructure will be important for the company’s long-term success. Their strategic decisions and ability to adapt to market dynamics will determine their ultimate performance. Additionally, Ola has hinted at an IPO in the future aiming to raise capital and become a publicly traded company.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is ola known for.

Ola is known across India as a ride-hailing service and a leading manufacturer of electric two-wheeler scooters.

Is Ola planning an IPO?

Yes, Ola Electric, a subsidiary of ANI technologies, has filed the prospectus with SEBI.

Which companies are Ola’s competitors?

Ola faces tough competition in ride-hailing services from companies like Rapido, InDrive, and Uber. It also faces competition for Ola Electric from established automobile companies like Bajaj, Hero Motocorp, Honda, etc.

Is Ola-Electric a new company?

While Ola Cabs has been around since 2010, Ola Electric, its electric vehicle subsidiary, is a relatively new player.

Who is the founder of Ola?

The founders of Ola are Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati.

Related Posts

Reliance Power Case Study: Business Model, Financial Statements, And SWOT Analysis

What Happened to Micromax? Rise, Fall, and Future Story!

McDonald’s Marketing Strategy – Case Study

Pocketful is an advanced trading platform that empowers traders with cutting-edge technology. we provide innovative tools and resources to make trading more accessible and practical., quick links.

• Open an Account
• Pocketful Web
• Pocketful App
• Investment Tool
• Trading Tool
• Support Portal
• Referral Program
• Calculators
• Stocks Pages
• Government Schemes
• Index Heat Map
• Stock Screener
• Mutual Funds
• Terms & Conditions
• Policies & Procedures
• Privacy Policy
• Press & Media

We are a concern of PACE Group. Pocketful is an investing platform that helps people be better investors. Pocketful unlocks the discoverability of new investment and trading ideas.

Open free demat account.

Join Pocketful Now

You have successfully subscribed to the newsletter

There was an error while trying to send your request. Please try again.

Marketing91

Business Model of Ola Cabs – How Ola Makes Money?

June 9, 2023 | By Hitesh Bhasin | Filed Under: Business

Founded in December 2010, Ola works under ANI technologies Pvt. Ltd. The business model of Ola revolves around offering Taxi Service, Ride Service Hailing, and Peer to Peer Ride-Sharing as an Indian Transportation Network Company.

It was founded by two IIT Bombay graduates: Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati after a bad car rental experience.

Ola Cabs is an online on-demand cab booking service which aims to provide efficient transportation services. It is a two-way model which caters to the needs of both the drivers and the customers.

In this post, we are going to learn about the Business Model of Ola along with its revenue model and marketing strategy.

This post will throw some light on how the diverse Business Model of Ola made it the most significant online cab service provider in the country.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Business Model of Ola

Ola has headquarters in Bengaluru, India.

In India, Ola is operating in over 125 cities offering cabs, two-wheelers, and auto-rickshaws.

In 2018, Ola went on the international platform and started operations in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

As of May 2019, Ola is valued at $6.2 billion.

Services offered by Ola include Vehicle for Hire, Food Delivery, and Delivery (Commerce).

Ola has two products, and they are its website and mobile application through which business model of Ola functions. It also includes two subsidiaries, and they are Foodpanda India and Ola Electric Mobility.

To decipher the reasons for such a massive presence of Ola in the Indian and international market, let us have a close look at the Business Model of Ola followed by its revenue model and marketing strategy-

Business Model of Ola: How does Ola work?

The Business Model of Ola derives its objectives from its name only.

The word “Ola” came from the Spanish word “Hola.”  This word means Hello in English.

The company wants to indicate that it is as easy and friendly to get its services as it is to say Hello. Now, let us look at how the business model helps the company in doing so.

Initially, Ola started as a Taxi Rental Fleet Business. In this business, Ola itself owned a fleet of cabs. Customers used to call their call center to book cabs. Cabs were made available to customers wherever and whenever required.

The payment for the ride was made at the end of the trip in cash.

This Business Model of Ola has now been changed into an app-based cab aggregation service.

Now, instead of owning a fleet, it acts as a link between the customers and cab drivers. Ola connects drivers and commuters through a mobile application.

This application works in the following manner:

• Customers have to open the Ola application, which detects their location via portable GPS.
• The app then shows various cabs available nearby such as mini, prime, sedan, Ola share, etc.
• The customer then needs to enter a drop location. The application makes the customer aware of the different price according to the size of the cab. One can select a taxi according to their preference and needs.
• A request is then sent to the driver (if he is logged in the application) which is routed via Ola’s servers.
• If the driver accepts the request, a confirmation along with the driver’s details is sent to the customer. These details can be used to connect and coordinate with the driver.
• The driver takes the customer from the pickup point, completes the ride, and takes the payment via the selected payment method.

Cab booking service is the primary revenue-earning activity of the company.

The company uses several other means to earn revenues which are discussed below-

Revenue Model: How does Ola make money?

After learning about the Business Model of Ola, let’s decipher the revenue model of Ola.

There can be several ways in which a company earns money. Likewise, Ola acquires cash in several ways. To learn how Ola makes money, we need to look into the revenue streams of the company which are described below:

#1. Trip commission

Online cab booking service is the most significant part of the Business Model of Ola. So, this becomes the significant revenue-generating activity of the company.

It charges X% commission, which varies from 15-20%, on the total fare of the trip which is based on various factors listed below:

• Base fare: It is the flat fare which is charged initially.
• Total time of the ride: Total time starting from pick up to drop off is taken into consideration while calculating the full fare. Calculation of the entire ride time is done in minutes.
• Waiting time: In case you made the driver wait, waiting charges will be imposed.
• Fare based on distance per km: It is charged kilometer wise and varies from city to city and based on the type of cab booked.
• Demand for cabs: Demand of the cab also affects the fare charged during that time. Ola increases the rate per km traveled. It is done to increase revenue during the high demand for cabs.
• Fee for booking: Advance fee is charged in case a cab is booked for later use.
• Convenience Fee: It is charged for the cabs that provide in-cab entertainment.
• Airport fee: Airport fee may be charged in case of pickup or drop to the airport.
• Toll and parking fee: Toll and parking fees are also charged based on the toll junctions crossed and car parking respectively.
• Cancellation Fee: Ola charges a certain amount of cancellation fee if you cancel the ride.
• Service Tax: Service tax and other taxes are also charged on the total cost of the trip.

#2. In-cab advertisements

Several advertisement tools such as brochures, pamphlets, etc. are distributed to the passengers to promote various brands and products.

Live ads are also played for promotional purposes.

Ola charges a commission from companies for such promotions.

All these help the company generate good revenues.

#3. Credit card

Recently Ola has introduced Ola credit card which offers many rewards to the customers. This step has been taken in association with State Bank of India and VISA.

It is also quite significant in enabling the company in making good money by widening its customer base via more personalized and lucrative benefits.

#4. Food Delivery

In a bid to expand, Ola entered into the food delivery segment.  Ola acquired FoodPanda to take on UberEats, Swiggy, and Zomato and increase its profits.

This is, again, a very promising endeavor taken by the Ola team, which is also offering good ROI.

#5. Ola money

Just like PhonPe, PayTM, Mobikwik, etc. Ola has also launched its wallet through which payments can be made to vendors or for its cab services.

Seeing the increased prevalence of digital payments, Ola money is being a game-changer for the business model of Ola.

#6. Cab leasing

Ola buys cars and leases them to the drivers. It is done to improve the loyalty of drivers towards Ola that also play a key role in boosting the revenues of the company.

#7. Corporate tie-ups

Ola ties-up with various companies for their business travels.

Ola charges reduced rates from these corporates and takes advantage of the increased sales volume, which in return helps Old make good money in the long run.

#8. Ola prime play

Ola provides personalized entertainment to the commuters for which it charges convenience fee from them.

While traveling, Ola Prime Play ensures more soothing and funfilled experience for the passengers for which they are ready to pay some extra money. Hence it plays a key role in boosting the revenues of the company.

Marketing strategy of Ola

We have learned about the Business Model of Ola along with its revenue model.

But, for the success of the Business Model of Ola, a brilliant marketing strategy would be required. Let us look at the marketing strategy adopted by Ola to fulfill its objectives-

#1. Treating the customer as the king

Customer is the central part of marketing.

Building customer loyalty is the main aim of any company because it not only leads to high revenues but also the growth of the company.

From attending calls to providing desired services to the customers, Ola has done everything to maintain and increase its customer base. Offering personalized services has been the key to the success of the business model of Old.

#2. Ola Mini

This business model is the most successful marketing strategy adopted by Ola.

The price of Ola Minicabs is almost equal to the auto fares. This idea was well-received by the customers and led to an increased customer base.

#3. Social media

These include online means of promotion. Ola launched its first campaign on Facebook known at the #chaloniklo battle.

This campaign was a huge success and led to its popularity. The number of Ola app downloads significantly increased due to this campaign.

#4. Ola Boats during Chennai floods

Ola launched its ferry service during Chennai floods. It was used both to deliver relief material and rescue people. This initiative reached much praise on social network and gave a boost to the company’s success.

#5. Partnership with TVF

The Viral Fever (TVF), an Indian online web series platform, has a huge fan base. This partnership has been advantageous for both companies because, now, they can acquire new customers from each other’s existing customer base.

We can see that Ola has used creative campaigns and initiatives to boost its marketing strategy. These strategies are essential because they lend support to the Business Model of Ola to retain and increase its customer base, ultimately leading to its success.

The revenue model and the Business Model of Ola have various segments.

Operating across multiple revenue lines has been advantageous for the company because these segments help to drive customers to the central business segment, i.e., the cab booking service.

Along with this, the marketing strategy is also very impressive, with several ingenious campaigns and initiatives. The company leaves no stone unturned in satisfying the customers, which works along with the Business Model of Ola to enhance its success.

The evidence of the success of the Business Model of Ola is that it has the largest market share in the country. The revenue has increased over ten times over the past four years. Today, it is the largest online cab service provider in the country.

With efficient use of technology and flexibility to both the drivers and the customers in terms of timings, bookings, payment options, and other facilities, this company is likely to see tremendous growth in the online cab booking sector.

Perhaps, other companies can learn a thing or two from the Business Model of Ola.

What is your take about the old business model?

Do you find it well adept and organized to sustain for long?

Share your point of views with us in the comments below.

Liked this post? Check out the complete series on Business Models

Related posts:

• Business Model of Amway – How Amway Business makes money?
• Business Model Of Facebook – How Facebook Makes Money
• Business Model of eBay – How eBay Makes Money!
• Business Model of Flipkart – How Flipkart Makes Money!
• Business Model of TCS – How TCS Makes Money?
• Business Model of Amazon and How Amazon Makes Money
• Business Model of McDonald’s and How it Makes Money
• Business Model of Big Basket and How it Makes Money
• Business Model of Google Pay and How Google Pay Makes Money
• Business Model Of Byju’s – How Byju’s Makes Money?

About Hitesh Bhasin

Hitesh Bhasin is the CEO of Marketing91 and has over a decade of experience in the marketing field. He is an accomplished author of thousands of insightful articles, including in-depth analyses of brands and companies. Holding an MBA in Marketing, Hitesh manages several offline ventures, where he applies all the concepts of Marketing that he writes about.

All Knowledge Banks (Hub Pages)

• Marketing Hub
• Management Hub
• Marketing Strategy
• Advertising Hub
• Branding Hub
• Market Research
• Small Business Marketing
• Sales and Selling
• Marketing Careers
• Internet Marketing
• Business Model of Brands
• Marketing Mix of Brands
• Brand Competitors
• Strategy of Brands
• SWOT of Brands
• Customer Management
• Top 10 Lists

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• About Marketing91
• Marketing91 Team
• Privacy Policy
• Cookie Policy
• Terms of Use
• Editorial Policy

WE WRITE ON

• Digital Marketing
• Human Resources
• Operations Management
• Marketing News
• Marketing mix's
• Competitors

• Business Today
• India Today
• India Today Gaming
• Cosmopolitan
• Harper's Bazaar
• Brides Today
• Aajtak Campus

• Budget 2024
• Magazine Cover Story Editor's Note Deep Dive Interview The Buzz
• BT TV Market Today Easynomics Drive Today BT Explainer
• Market Today Trending Stocks Indices Stocks List Stocks News Share Market News IPO Corner
• Tech Today Unbox Today Authen Tech Tech Deck Tech Shorts
• Money Today Tax Investment Insurance Tools & Calculator
• Mutual Funds
• Industry Banking IT Auto Energy Commodities Pharma Real Estate Telecom
• Visual Stories

INDICES ANALYSIS

Mutual funds.

• Cover Story
• Editor's Note
• Market Today
• Drive Today
• BT Explainer
• Trending Stocks
• Stocks List
• Stocks News
• Share Market News
• Unbox Today
• Authen Tech
• Tech Shorts
• Tools & Calculator
• Commodities
• Real Estate
• Economic Indicators

Ola's electric dreams: CEO Bhavish Aggarwal on EVs, Ola's first electric car and future of ride-hailing services

Bhavish Aggarwal, 37, the aggressive, straight-talking Co-founder & CEO of Ola, is currently a man on a mission: to make India a global leader in electric mobility. Two of his companies—ride-hailing venture Ola and electric mobility company Ola Electric—are in the midst of rapid scaling up. But EV two-wheeler market leader Ola Electric, with a range of scooters, an upcoming motorcycle range and plans for a car launch by next year, is where the bulk of the action is. In a freewheeling conversation with Business Today’s Sourav Majumdar, Aggarwal talks about his vision for the EV sector, his plans for the ride-hailing venture, and more. Edited excerpts:

Q: Bhavish, to start off, give us an overview of where Ola stands at this point.

A: I am very optimistic about India in general and about technology and, obviously, about our company. Let me share a bit with you about how Ola is growing. [The] Ola group is now three companies. Ola, which is my consumer company, where ride-hailing was my main business, is profitable and is growing well. You will see us do a few very interesting AI applications in Ola. And I will talk about that more as the conversation progresses. We are the No. 1 firm by ride-hailing market share.

Q: What is the current market share?

A: There are different numbers, but 60 per cent is more or less the media- and third-party number.

Q: What is the status of your IPO plans for Ola?

A: We tried to list it last year, but we didn’t do it. We will do it soon. Then, Ola Electric is now India’s No. 1 EV company by revenue—even bigger than the four-wheeler EV companies by revenue—and last year we scaled up manufacturing, our front-end [and] back-end. In January last year, we started selling. Last year was a very action-filled year for us at Ola Electric. It’s a massive undertaking and it was very exciting. I have been very optimistic... not just optimistic but very aggressive about India’s need to lead the world in electrification.

Q: That has been the broad vision for Ola Electric, right?

A: EV, sustainability, climate change, etc., are all important global themes now and to truly take sustainability and the EV mission to humanity scale, India needs to be electrified, because whatever companies like Tesla, etc. are doing in the West are for the western audience. The majority of the world doesn’t use those products. And India is a great microcosm of the rest of the world.

Q: The government is also giving a big push to electrification…

A: Yes, the government is very supportive. It is an opportunity for an Indian company to build products that Indians want and scale them beyond India—also because there are many large geographies that will use these kinds of products. That’s been our vision from Day One in Ola Electric, so we have been focussed on building three pillars of our strategy. It is building a spectrum of two-wheelers, building cars, and the third pillar has been vertically integrating into cell technology. All three pillars of our strategy are very fast in motion. In two-wheelers we are the leaders in India—we also teased our motorcycles a few weeks ago. Motorcycles will be launched this year and next year we will launch a bunch of motorcycles. Towards the end of the next year, our car will also be launched.

Q: Talking about the range of products, you are now going to get into the mass market in scooters—the Activa segment. Then there are motorcycles, that is the Hero segment; and then premium motorcycles, that is, the Bajaj and Royal Enfield segment. You are already the leader in premium scooters, where you started. Would you not be better off consolidating there and establishing leadership by far rather than doing all these things at this juncture?

A: Great question. And this movement in the automotive industry is very different from any other new entrant coming in. This is a technology shift. In a technology shift, every technology has an ‘S’ curve, for maturity, adoption, and value creation. And technologies shake up industry structure. You have seen 4G, there are so many examples. The way the internet shook up [things]. In the Silicon Valley, Microsoft and Apple used to dominate, then Google emerged, Amazon emerged and others emerged. So, technology shakes up everything. It shakes up what the consumer proposition is, what the industry structure is, it shakes up business models and, hence, I don’t see the two-wheeler market as premium scooter, mass-market scooter, premium motorbike, mass-market motorbike. The future of EV is going to be technology-led and there are two or three major technologies that will define that. One is software and the other is energy and cell. I have expertise in both. So, once we master these technologies and build a platform, we can easily build different product segments on it. And once my supply chains are at scale built out on these core technologies, it will be very hard for anybody to compete.

Q: And the third company you spoke about?

A: It is the subsidiary of Ola Electric, it is the cell one. Software is Ola’s DNA, the others don’t have that strength. [Our] competitors may be of the view that Ola is only assembling now [and] will do so in the future. That’s not the game right now. The game right now is to control the technologies that are defining the disruption to differentiate a product better, to control your costs better, and to control your speed to market better.

Q: All the segments will be under Ola Electric?

A: Yes, we are not splitting [them].

Q: Management bandwidth for each of these will be different, right? In an earlier interview to us, you said legacy players will be surprised. We also did a story recently on Honda motorcycles and how they and Hero are challenging each other. Now, you are getting into their territory.

A: Actually, technology is getting into their territories, not me. I am just a representative of technology. If not me, someone else will enter these territories.

Q: Do you think you have an advantage in terms of scale?

A: We started only two years ago. Yeah, we attacked it with scale. And see how many scooter variants we have launched this year—S1 Air, S1 [and] S1’s multiple battery sizes. We are able to do so many fast iterations because we control our technology.

Q: TVS has also entered the arena in a big way...

A: They are a credible company. They have a good product. It is good to have competition. My vision for the Indian industry is to be world leaders in this electrification journey. And it can’t just be Ola. The whole ecosystem has to move along. Other OEMs should be building world-class products, Tier I [firms] should be building world-class components and technologies for the EV future. And that will make our ecosystem stronger. We will benefit as Ola and India will benefit, the ecosystem will benefit, and the consumer will benefit.

Q: What are the key challenges as you scale up?

A: We started our first product on August 15, 2021. It’s been one and a half years. Even then, I was told that the market is not ready. But I have a different perspective. Consumers are the smartest people, they know what they want. And when they see something, they can feel what they want. It is more a supply side thing that companies were not building good enough products for consumers. Now see how EV penetration [has] scaled up since our product launch. In the premium scooter segment, the EV penetration is 90 per cent from 25 per cent before our launch, in one year. Once our S1 Air and one or two products come out at mass price points, the penetration will shoot up in one/one and a half years.

When the chip shortage happened, because I built my own software, I was able to replace the chip with whatever was available and recreate my software for that in, like, a week. We never got impacted by chip shortage. Everybody else... OEMs... got impacted by the chip shortage... We had our share of challenges last year primarily around the front-end of the business—the distribution, because we were doing a new model there as well.

Q: Online...

A: Not online but D2C, which has both online and offline. It is company-owned, direct to customers.

Q: When we spoke last, you said you thought that it (D2C) would be only online. Have you veered towards omni-channel now?

A: People were saying things wouldn’t happen without dealerships. My model has proven D2C is better. The cost of distribution is much lower in D2C. Feedback comes directly, I engage with the customers directly. My cost is lower.

Q: So, all your offline stores are yours. There is no dealership.

A: Yes. In a couple months, I’ll have 500 stores.

Q: The car, too, won’t have dealerships?

A: The same model—D2C, omni-channel. We have partnered with the Tamil Nadu government for acquiring more land—almost 2,000 acres. We are building three factories there—the two-wheeler factory, the car factory, and the cell factory. And it will be the world’s largest EV manufacturing site in one location when it is fully completed. Our suppliers are co-locating with us in that area; it will become bigger than any other ecosystem in the world. That’s our vision.

Q: In India, every new technology leapfrogs. AI is the next one, right?

A: I will [tell you] what we are doing in AI. In the electric segment, we are working on autonomous vehicles. Applications of AI will be across my businesses. [There are] two things I believe in and you’ll see me building my company with those foundational beliefs. One, technologies are accelerating and converging at the same time, which means that electrification is having an accelerated impact than it is expected to have, digitisation is having an accelerated impact, AI will have an accelerated impact. Material technology, space technology, etc., are not only standalone technologies, it’s all a convergence. Automotive is a great example of convergence. It includes AI, software, electronics, digitisation, etc. As a firm, we are very technology centric—we started that way. But we did not limit ourselves only to digital technology. We broadened our spectrum significantly: cell technology, energy technology, vehicle & engineering, material science, etc. In the group now, we have around 200 people across the spectrum doing a lot of IP creations for us. That is one core belief on which I’m building my company.

The second belief is that this is India and my generation’s destiny is to build a future. What the technology acceleration in India allows us to do is leapfrog, like you said. Also, I believe, the old paradigm of GDP growth of 6-7 per cent will all be changed by technology. If you think of AI, AI can make us so much more productive. If as an ecosystem we adopt AI, GDP growth will be much stronger. The future is of acceleration. India is young, the government is progressive.

Q: There’s this view that because you are so obsessed with electric and so much work needs to be done there, you’ve shifted focus from ride-hailing.

A: Ola is an emerging group and my journey has been slightly different from my other internet peers, in the sense that I didn’t sell my company or never focussed on selling... rather, I focussed on building institutions. I’m still in the middle of this journey and people ask me this question [where is my focus?]. This is because we are still in the middle of our journey to establish ourselves as an institutionalised group. But, if you look at our company, we are a very strong team. We have solid teams across Ola, Ola Electric, Ola Cell. My and Ola’s journey is to build the future here for India and ourselves, and it is not going to be an easy journey. That’s my philosophy.

We are scaling up our ride-hailing business. It will see a focus on electrification. There have been post-Covid-19 challenges of customer experience because of lower supply, so we are solving that aggressively. My attention has been on both businesses. My passion is my work.

Q: What is the next step for ride-hailing?

A: The future of ride-hailing is going to be electric and it benefits everybody in the ecosystem—the consumer, society because it is green, but most importantly [it] benefits the driver because it’s cheaper to operate an electric car and the driver can earn more money. As a result, more drivers will be pulled into the industry and the drivers will be more incentivised and will be able to deliver a better customer experience. Our big focus now is on electrification. We announced a plan a few months ago about adding electric cars. You will see some major announcements in due course.

Q: What is your fund-raising plan at Ola Electric?

A: We are investing aggressively and at the right time we will raise more capital. As of now, our balance sheet is very strong.

Q: Do you think battery swapping is the solution or is it creating charging stations?

A: All these questions are part of the debate we need to get through, as a part of the stakeholder group, to understand the paradigm of the future of EVs in India. Is it hydrogen or lithium, is it swapping or charging stations, etc.? The anxiety around charging comes from an old mindset—what if the charge of the vehicle gets over? Even with countries where there is high EV adoption, it’s not that they have an equal number of charging stations. We are now expanding our charging network but we have almost 200,000 electric vehicles already on roads [and customers] have been charging them at home.

Q: Some EV players are under the government’s lens for misusing the FAME subsidy...

A: Some players did not do the right thing in spirit as many people were getting things from China; from Day One we have manufactured everything in India—in our factories mostly, and through Indian suppliers. People often say to me, ‘Why are you making everything?’ So, my thing is, if you are getting things from China, then it should have its own repercussions. We should create the Indian ecosystem. But now we are thinking beyond FAME. We are building our cost structures, our supply chain, scale… My view is FAME should fade out once EV penetration is 10 per cent, which will happen this year.

Q: What will your car be called?

A: [We] have not given it a name yet.

Q: Where do you see Ola as an ecosystem by 2025 or 2026?

A: As a group, our ambition is to be significantly impactful in a few major technology themes of our era. One technology theme is consumer tech, where we are one of the leading companies in India through ride-hailing and AI. The second technology theme is electrification, converting our transportation to clean [energy]. And the third technology theme is new energy. And in these three technologies, we will be the leaders here. That’s our ambition in two to three years. Today, we are already leaders in different ways across these three themes. And you will see us double down and become even stronger leaders because we are building technology.

Many people ask me sometimes that technology also changes fast. Isn’t it a risk that I am taking? That question is from a mindset of consumption of technology, not creation of technology. When you are creating technology, you do your own generational advancements. You are at the cutting edge, so that’s how big technology companies have been built. They have not been built by consuming technologies—they have created the road map of technology and influenced it and taken the right strategic calls in technology. That’s what we are doing. When it comes to specifically electric, our goal has been for two-wheelers to be fully electric in India by 2025-end. I still stand by that and I feel optimistic that the Indian industry will hit that [figure]. In three years, we can make all two-wheeler vehicles sold in India electric.

Our car will be out next year. We will be building a few cars over the course of the next three to four years. We aim to be leaders in that space. Today, all the four-wheeler EVs that exist in India are largely ICE vehicle platforms converted into EVs, which are not efficient. And ours will be a greenfield EV platform, riding on technology.

@TheSouravM

• Advertise with us
• Privacy Policy
• Terms and Conditions
• Press Releases

Copyright©2024 Living Media India Limited. For reprint rights: Syndications Today

Add Business Today to Home Screen

Business Model of Ola | How does Ola Cabs makes money

Pratyusha Srivastava

The cab services have grown, especially in India. Finding a taxi for a ride to our destination has become pretty convenient and fulfilling. There are tons of companies that are competing in the market with their on-demand taxi services. And in this race, a well-known company, Ola, has gained the most votes and preferences.

Ola, being India's biggest domestic ride-hailing services company with the greatest rivalry of Uber, in the global market. The company was established in 2011 with the idea of providing the most convenient and fruitful transportation services to the public. Ola provides on-demand cabs to the customers at some pretty reasonable prices, through a mobile application.

‌‌The company serves millions of customers in more than 169 cities on a daily basis. Ola has an enormous customer base, estimated at around 125 million who are officially registered in its application. Ola is quite prominent in foreign countries as well including New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. In this article, we are going to briefly discuss the business model and strategies of Ola. Let's begin!

About Ola Where does Ola operate? Key Services of Ola Target Audience of Ola Business model of Ola What is unique about Ola's business model? How does Ola Make Money? FAQ

‌‌Ola, an International ride-sharing company, founded in India by Ankit Bhati and Bhavish Aggarwal, IIT graduates . Ola is owned by ANI technologies. The company provides the service of online booking cabs for our destination, conveniently from our mobile phone at a reasonable cost. It is headquartered in Bengaluru, India.

‌‌In the beginning, Ola didn't have any specific mobile application for customers to book cabs. They used to provide the cab directly through their call centers. The customer calls the team at the Ola call center where the employees search for an available cab and book it for the customer to reach their destination and provide the customer's address to the driver. Today, Ola has more than 125 million active users on its mobile application and has grown immensely.

‌‌After expanding the taxi services across India, the company took its services at the International level in countries such as Australia, the United States, and New Zealand by the year 2019. As of the last estimated data in 2019, Ola's valuation was worth $6.2 billion. Currently, the company has grown more promptly.

Where does Ola operate?

‌‌Ola is known as India's biggest ridesharing and transportation company , which has earned enormous success at the International level. Ola is counted among the world's largest ride-hailing companies. It serves in countries including Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom , and around 250+ cities and towns in India.

Key Services of Ola

‌‌Ola offers tons of services at different levels ranging from economic to luxury. The bookings are facilitated through its mobile applications as well as through the website. On average, Ola daily receives 15, 000 bookings. Ola also has around 60% market share in India. Ola offers various services such as vehicles for hiring, digital wallet, food delivery, mobile payment, and many others.

Target Audience of Ola

‌‌Ola generally targets its audience in various segments. It majorly focuses on people in the age group of 20-45 years who are financially independent, young, office workers, college students, and many others.

Business model of Ola

‌‌Ola was initially started as a Taxi Rental Fleet Business which later stepped into the bigger marketing dimensions as a ride-hailing company.

Ola changed its marketing strategies in 2015 when it found an incredible opportunity on the digital platform and that's when the online cab services came into full force on the Internet.

Ola entirely changed its business model and opted for digital marketing . The company wholly shifted to an online application, Ola App. Its business model was altered into a moderator between the customer and the taxi drivers. Its online application connects the taxi drivers with the customers.

‌‌Ola's mobile application is absolutely smooth and runs by registering the users on its app and allowing it to detect the customer's location through GPS. Then, the customer puts the destination and gets various cab categories with their respective prices.

Through these options, the customer can choose the most suitable cab and book it for them. Later, the drivers complete the verification with an OTP sent on the customer's phone. And the customer gets smooth and convenient service.

What is unique about Ola's business model?

‌‌Ola provides on-demand taxi services very smoothly to its customers. The most significant thing about its business model is that it follows a two-way model and serves its customers and drivers too.

How does Ola Make Money?

‌‌There are tons of ways through which Ola generates its revenue. These ways are:

Trip commission

Through this, the company charges some percent of commission on the total cost of a cab ride. This varies on several factors like base fare, waiting time, cab demands, and others.

Credit card

Through this, customers get various rewards on paying via credit card.

In-cab advertising

The customer gets various ad pamphlets and brochures from the company to promote its brands and products.

Food delivery

Recently Ola has introduced a food delivery division to its company, to enhance its gross profit.

Corporate deals

Ola deals with various corporate companies to facilitate its business traveling's. Ola charges little reduced rates and it earns a higher sales volume.

‌‌In the past few years, Ola has gained enormous success and appreciation from the customers for its amazing services and products. Ola's ultimate goal is to provide the safest, convenient and extraordinary ride to the customer at reasonable prices. Ola has redefined its marketing strategies since it shifted to the digital platform. The company had gained millions of customers as well as some very incredible business deals.

Who is the founder of Ola?

Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati founded Ola cabs in 2010.

What is the revenue of Ola?

The revenue of Ola was 2,544 crores INR as of 2019.

What is the valuation of Ola?

The valuation of Ola is around $3.3 billion as of 2021.

Must have tools for startups - Recommended by StartupTalky

• Convert Visitors into Leads- SeizeLead
• Manage your business smoothly- Google Workspace
• International Money transfer- XE Money Transfer

English Teachers in India Give a Thumbs-Up to Immersive Learning Modes via Videos and News Articles: ELTAI-Glibzter Survey

82% of respondents consider Videos, Podcasts, and Audiobooks with Subtitles, Closed Captions, and Transcripts effective for improving English Language Skills. Reading of News Articles and Editorials recommended by 78% of respondents. COIMBATORE 22nd October 2024: English Language Teachers' Association of India (ELTAI) - the largest network of teachers of

Deepinder Goyal Success Story: India's Newest Billionaire

The food delivery segment in India has witnessed an unprecedented surge. Late-night cravings, urgent home delivery, etc., have now become the norm. Despite being a huge potential market in India at present, only 2-3 brands dominate this industry, and Zomato is one of them. Zomato is an Indian restaurant aggregator

Isha Ambani: More Than Just A Billionaire’s Daughter, A Perfect Fusion Of Beauty, Brains, And Business Brilliance

Isha Ambani, the eldest child of India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, and coheir to India's largest conglomerate, Reliance Industries, is more than just a billionaire's daughter. Coming from a prominent business family that has shaped India’s economy, Isha could have easily stepped into

Bhavish Aggarwal: Driving Innovation and Transforming Transportation

India witnessed a drastic change within a very short period recently. You can now order groceries from the internet, food that reaches your doorstep, and also reach the farthest corner of your city without pressing a gas pedal.  OLA Cabs now Ola Consumer, co-founded by Bhavish Aggarwal has helped a

Ola launches vehicle commerce platform Ola Cars - We explain its details

To expand to 100 cities by next year

India’s largest mobility platform Ola has announced its new vehicle commerce platform, Ola Cars, to help customers purchase new as well as pre-owned vehicles through the Ola App

Ola said in a statement that it would offer a bouquet of services to customers, beginning with purchase, vehicle finance and insurance, registration, maintenance including vehicle health diagnostics and service, accessories and finally resale of the vehicle back to Ola Cars. "It will be a one stop shop for customers looking at hassle-free buying, selling and managing their cars."

• Indian States vie with each other on EV policy and incentives - Gujarat, the latest
• How the FAME II policy revision will accelerate the adoption of EVs in India

Ola Cars in 30 cities, to begin with

Ola Cars will begin with pre-owned and, over time, Ola will open it up for new vehicles from Ola Electric and other automotive brands as well

Starting with 30 cities, Ola Cars will soon scale up to over 100 cities by next year.

Bhavish Aggarwal, Founder & CEO, Ola said “With Ola Cars, we are bringing a completely new experience for buying, selling and overall ownership for both new and owned vehicles.” 

The company also announced the appointment of Arun Sirdeshmukh as Chief Executive Officer of Ola Cars. 

He said “With Ola Cars, we are completely reimagining not just buying and selling but also vehicle finance, insurance, as well as maintenance – an end-to-end digital-first experience for our customer. We have plans to expand aggressively over the next few months across India and international markets and also launch new verticals in this business including pre-owned 2W and new vehicles.”

Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox

Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.

Ola Cars is part of Ola’s larger plan of new mobility that encompasses three parts – first, New Mobility Services expanding from 150 to 500 cities and increasing the reach from 100mn people to 500mn people; second, New Energy Vehicles with EVs across existing and new vehicle form factors and third, New Auto Retail that seeks to improve the entire lifecycle of vehicle ownership for a customer.

• Flipkart Big Billion Days : New launches and expected deals of tech product
• Amazon Great Indian Festival sale : best deal and offers of tech products
• Want to know about the latest happenings in tech? Follow TechRadar India on  Twitter ,  Facebook   and  Instagram !

Over three decades as a journalist covering current affairs, politics, sports and now technology. Former Editor of News Today, writer of humour columns across publications and a hardcore cricket and cinema enthusiast. He writes about technology trends and suggest movies and shows to watch on OTT platforms. 

Ferrari unveils its F1-inspired F80 hybrid supercar – the most powerful Ferrari to roll out of Maranello

Garmin Dash Cam Mini 3 review: same great design, now with less glare

The Black Myth: Wukong physical release is coming "very soon"

Most Popular

• 2 Nintendo Switch Online Playtest Program participants leak contents early and it appears to be a collaborative MMO
• 3 How to print from Email
• 4 Microsoft and UK government sign multi-year tech agreement
• 5 NYT Connections today — hints and answers for Monday, October 21 (game #498)

This web app uses cookies to compile statistic information of our users visits. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. If you wish you may change your preference or read about cookies

Or explore sectors:

Why ola's business model is so successful.

Ola business model canvas

Embed code:

Ola’s Company Overview

Ola is a leading ride-hailing company in India, transforming the way millions of people commute daily. Powered by advanced mobile technology, Ola seamlessly integrates various modes of city transportation for customers, offering a simplified and hassle-free booking experience. Whether it's affordable cabs, luxurious vehicles, or localized auto-rickshaws, Ola's wide range of options ensures that every travel need is met with efficiency and comfort. Committed to playing a significant role in urban mobility, Ola aims to provide safe, reliable, and quick transportation solutions, reinforcing its commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction. Ola continues to expand its footprint, serving millions of users across numerous cities, thereby contributing significantly to the transportation landscape. Ola operates on a unique business model that leverages technology to connect customers with driver-partners, creating a symbiotic relationship that benefits both parties. By offering various vehicle options, from budget-friendly to premium services, Ola caters to the diverse needs of its customer base. The company empowers its driver-partners by enabling them to become entrepreneurs, providing access to financing, car manufacturers, and service providers, thus ensuring a sustainable livelihood. Ola's platform also offers features such as ride scheduling, real-time tracking, and digital payments, enhancing convenience and ensuring a seamless user experience. This technology-driven ecosystem allows Ola to deliver high-quality transportation services while fostering economic growth for its driver-partners. Ola's revenue model is multifaceted, primarily driven by commissions from rides booked through its platform. The company takes a percentage of the fare paid by customers, which constitutes the main revenue stream. Additionally, Ola generates income through premium services such as Ola Lux and subscription-based offerings like Ola Select, which provides users with benefits such as zero wait times and discounted rides. The company also partners with corporates for enterprise solutions, catering to employee transportation needs on a large scale. By diversifying its revenue streams, Ola ensures consistent and sustainable growth, positioning itself as a dominant player in the urban mobility sector.

Headquater: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Foundations date: 2010

Company Type: Private

Sector: Transportation

Category: Mobility

Digital Maturity: Digirati

Ola’s Related Competitors

Uber business model, blablacar business model, didi chuxing business model, ola’s business model canvas.

• Car manufacturers
• Payment providers
• Maintenance and service centers
• Fuel stations
• Marketing agencies
• Local government authorities
• Insurance providers
• Technology partners
• Ride Booking Platform Maintenance
• Driver Onboarding and Training
• Fleet Management
• Customer Support
• Marketing and Promotions
• Technology Development and Innovation
• Payment Processing
• Data Analysis and Optimization
• Partnership Management
• Regulatory Compliance
• Customer Feedback Collection and Improvement
• Expansion Planning
• Safety Protocol Implementation
• Regular App Updates and Feature Enhancement
• Surge Pricing Management
• Route Optimization
• Technology Platform
• GPS Navigation System
• Customer Support Team
• Partnerships with Fuel Stations
• Maintenance and Repair Infrastructure
• Convenient city transportation
• Ride-hailing service
• Affordable travel options
• Wide range of vehicle choices
• Safe and reliable rides
• Quick cab bookings
• Flexible payment methods
• Real-time GPS tracking
• Experienced drivers
• Integrated app for seamless experience
• Ride scheduling in advance
• In-app SOS feature for safety
• User-friendly interface
• Customizable ride preferences
• Competitive pricing
• 24/7 Customer Support
• Driver Ratings and Reviews
• Ride Feedback System
• Personalized Ride Preferences
• Loyalty Programs
• In-App Chat Support
• Booking Confirmation Alerts
• Ride History and Payment Receipts
• Promotional Offers and Discounts
• VIP Membership Programs
• Daily Commuters
• Corporate Employees
• Event Attendees
• Senior Citizens
• Outstation Travelers
• Airport Travelers
• Social Media
• Email Marketing
• Partnerships with Hotels
• Direct Sales Representatives
• Customer Support Helpline
• Referral Programs
• In-Car Promotional Materials
• Outdoor Advertising
• Driver payments
• Marketing and advertising
• Customer service operations
• Technology and platform development
• Insurance and legal costs
• Vehicle maintenance and acquisition
• Fuel and toll expenses
• Employee salaries and benefits
• Office and operational rents
• Commissions from driver-partners
• Ola Select membership fees
• Leasing/Selling vehicles to drivers
• Corporate ride services
• Ola Money financial services
• Insurance offerings
• Advertising on the platform

A generative AI business strategy tool to create business plans in 1 minute

FREE 7 days trial ‐ Get started in seconds

Ola’s Revenue Model

Ola makes money by combining different business models. Below, you will find the list of the different monetization strategies identified for this company:

• Reverse engineering
• Peer to Peer (P2P)
• On-demand economy
• New job trends
• Digitization
• Sharing economy
• Access over ownership
• Uberization
• Disruptive trends
• Lean Start-up
• Mobile first behavior
• Disintermediation
• Product innovation
• Corporate innovation
• Layer player
• Revenue sharing
• Take the wheel
• Technology trends
• Two-sided market
• From push to pull
• Ultimate luxury
• Right click on the nodes to explore

Ola’s Case Study

Ola's case study, the genesis of ola, a unique symbiosis: drivers and customers, harnessing technology for enhanced user experience, multifaceted revenue model, expanding the footprint, customer-centric innovation, challenges and strategic responses.

If you enjoyed this content, you’re in for a treat! Dive into our extensive repository of business model examples , where we’ve dissected and analyzed thousands of business strategies from top tech companies and innovative startups. Don’t miss out!

+100 Business Book Summaries

We've distilled the wisdom of influential business books for you.

Zero to One by Peter Thiel. The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek. Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan. …

Recommended companies based on your search:

Vizologi is a platform powered by artificial intelligence that searches, analyzes and visualizes the world’s collective business model intelligence to help answer strategic questions, it combines the simplicity of business model canvas with the innovation power of mash-up method .

See how Vizologi works View all features  

You rock! Thank you for your interest. Before starting the canvas download, we would like to ask you to pay with a tweet.

Download paying with a tweet

Supercharge Your Business Strategy!

Before you download our exclusive content Subscribe to Vizologi’s FREE newsletter. Join 50k+ innovators shaping success with curated content. No spam, just pure value! @vizologi

Thanks for joining us!

Your exclusive content is on the way to your inbox. Ready to elevate your business with Vizologi?

JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser.

The Ola Story

Redefining mobility for billions.

Ola is India’s largest mobility platform and one of the world’s largest ride-hailing companies, serving 250+ cities across India, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK. The Ola app offers mobility solutions by connecting customers to drivers and a wide range of vehicles across bikes, auto-rickshaws, metered taxis, and cabs, enabling convenience and transparency for hundreds of millions of consumers and over 1.5 million driver-partners.

Ola’s core mobility offering in India is supplemented by its electric-vehicle arm, Ola Electric; India’s largest fleet management business, Ola Fleet Technologies and Ola Skilling, that aims to enable millions of livelihood opportunities for India's youth. With its acquisition of Ridlr, India’s leading public transportation app and investment in Vogo, a dockless scooter sharing solution, Ola is looking to build mobility for the next billion Indians. Ola also extends its consumer offerings like micro-insurance and credit led payments through Ola Financial Services and a range of owned food brands through India’s largest network of kitchens under its Food business.

Ola was founded in Dec 2010 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati with a mission to build mobility for a billion people.

The duo behind Ola

Bhavish Aggarwal

Co-founder and ceo.

Bhavish is the Co-Founder & CEO of Ola, one of the world’s largest ride-sharing platforms and India’s most popular mobile app for transportation. With the mission of building mobility for a billion people, he started Ola (formerly OlaCabs) in 2010 with Ankit Bhati, a fellow alumnus from the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai, the country’s premier institution for technology and science.

Before Ola, Bhavish worked with Microsoft Research for two years, filing two patents alongside having three papers published in international academic journals. True to his belief of the need to have on-demand consumer transportation as a service, Bhavish doesn't own a car himself and vows that he never will!

• Get In Touch

​​How Ola Works – Apprehend Ola Business Model and Revenue Source

Ola is a taxi aggregator with a fleet of motorcars that initially aimed to offer rides for holiday trips. The business then pictured and practiced penetrating into the cab aggregation model, which had a huge scope. With such actions, the Ola business model is a versatile model that incorporates various aligned segments and some entirely separate spaces. We will unwind business strategies, how Ola works, and Ola revenue insights one by one in this blog.

For information - Ola has grabbed over 1.5 million drivers in over 250 cities in 4 different countries, thriving in the most competitive market. In the fiscal year 2021, Ola had a profit of Rs.90 crores amidst the pandemic. Ola has moved to the financial service sector, launching a credit card other than offering trips. It then launched a new segment as a food aggregator. One of the recent business approaches was entering the grocery delivery industry as Ola Dash.

What is Ola?

Ola is a mobility platform offering on-demand rides with a wide spectrum of conveyances across cars, auto-rickshaws, bikes, and metered taxis. The firm aims to offer transparency and comfort in the rides embarking on several schemes in that respect. It is the largest taxi aggregator in India and one of the largest in the world. Ola has formed a taxi booking platform which now has a lot more than that, adding services like credit cards, micro-insurance, and food delivery services.

Ola was launched in 2010 by two of its co-founders, Bhavesh Agrawal and Ankit Bhati. The business strived to build mobility for a billion people, starting with a phone call service to a mobile app. It assembled its technology to scale and acquire huge consumers in numerous cities and countries.

The idea behind Ola is an outcome of the helpless personal experience of Bhavish Aggarwal, one of the co-founders. Once on the journey from Bandipur to Bangalore, he was abandoned by the driver midway for forbidding him to revise the already talked payment. It compelled him to solve the problem he faced. With co-founder Ankit Bhati, in December 2010, Ola arrived into practice with a vision to give beneficial and satisfying rides to a billion individuals. They named the company after the Spanish word ‘Hola’, which means ‘Hello’ from which the founders depict their services as leisurely and generous.

Ola’s Funding, Figures, and Facts

Launch Year: December 2010 Founders: Bhavesh Agrawal, Ankit Bhati Parent Company: ANI Technologies. Headquarter: Bangalore, Karnataka, India Industry: Transportation Funding Stages: 28 Funding Amount: $4.9B Acquisitions: 7 Customer Base: 1BN/Year

Ola is aiming to launch an IPO in early 2022. It aims to raise $1.5-2 billion with a valuation of $12-15 billion, looking forward to becoming a part of the liquidity-driven market rally.

How Does Ola Work?

Ola unites travelers and drivers in a single platform for instant or scheduled rides on-demand, where the requests are placed through an app. It is a two-channel business model fulfilling transportation needs. Commuters from the app can book a convenient vehicle from a car, bike, auto-rickshaw, and a few others. Drivers would receive the requests and complete them in exchange for ride fees.

Ola Business Model - Understand Business Strategies for Your Taxi Business

The Ola business model incorporates a wide range of services for transportation, like getting a ride within the city, renting a car, outstation round trips, and a lot more. These will be discussed later on this blog. We first will focus on the business model.

Key Partners of Ola

As a cab aggregator model, Ola has some common partners like drivers, car owners, motorcar manufacturers, etc.; besides, as their business model is not limited to just rides, some other key partners are:

• Technology Partner
• Insurance Partner
• Payment Partners
• GPS Service Providers
• Cloud Kitchens
• Food Delivery Providers
• Grocery Stores
• Delivery Partners

Key Activities of Ola

Ola’s key actions are to expand its business to higher levels and acquire more consumers. Ola’s major activities are:

• Technical platform management regularly by upholding and revising the app.
• Manage day-to-day operations by hiring, assuring safe rides, common legalities, and others to manage the business.
• Marketing and sales for improving brand recognition both online and offline.
• Business analysis about the daily rides, sales, returns, etc., that can be used for scaling.

Key Resources

• A digital platform to manage rides and business
• Team of drivers, sales, marketing, and support
• Analytical Data
• Ola has gained a remarkable brand name which itself is equity.
• Fundraisers and equity holders.

Value Proposition

– for commuters.

• On-demand rides at their fingertips.
• Rides are inexpensive and flexible to book.
• In-ride amenities like entertainment, WiFi, and other tools.
• Drivers are steadfast as they have passed all necessary procedures before the acquisitions.
• The operational customer support approach
• Least or no wait time for the commuters
• Multiple stops structure during the ride.
• Desired payment ways, including going cashless.

– For Drivers

• Flexible hours for the rides
• Earnings from rides
• Cars on lease
• Helpline facility 24/7
• Book on behalf of commuters

Customer Relationship

Seeking out the prolonged customer relationship is hard to drive for business in the long term, and that too in the most flourishing industry. So the Ola business model serves different channels to engage consumers, giving them adequate experiences.

– Fully Mechanized App

The services are booked online through an app with all-time customer support.

– Discounts and Offers

Riders get numerous advantages of discounts and offers through the app. In addition, they get credit points as referrals.

– Other Services

Ola gives the consumers other benefits, like a panic button facility for emergencies, entertainment, multiple stops, etc.

Customer Segment

– ola users.

To Travel in the City

Consumers who don’t own a taxi and want to avoid driving can get an Ola taxi to drive from the desired place within the city.

Outspot Travel

For reserving a cab to travel outside the city as a solo trip or group vacation.

Getting a cab for 1 to 12 hours who wants to drive a car by themselves.

Ola for Corporates

Employees or managers can get Ola for corporate with perks like a low price, insurance, expenses, etc.

– Ola Drivers

Drivers who own a car, bike, or auto-rickshaw are eligible for driving and taxi services.

Ola Revenue Insights – How Ola Makes Money?

The Ola revenue insights have created a vast segment that is favorable to drivers, commuters, and the company.

Fixed Share from Ola Trip

From each trip, Ola charges in percentage as their commission. As it offers various ranges of trips, it points to several earnings.

Price Per Distance

Besides the base price, Ola takes prices per distance if it exceeds the base distance. This share, though, differs in the various geographical locations.

Price for Time Traveled

The total ride fees also rely on the time taken for the pickup and drop; the charges would be counted on the minutes taken in all.

Surge Pricing

Ola charges an additional amount per Km in the rush hours and places. Several ranges are decided based on the time of booking, vehicle selected, area to be traveled, etc.

Besides, Ola takes charges for advance booking, access bookings, waiting for time, convenience price, airport price, etc. The distribution of the price in the entire is like customers will pay for the ride. Then, the Admin reduces the service tax, again subtracting its commission, and transfers the rest of the amount in the driver’s wallet within two working days.

Ola Cab Leasing Program

Ola buys the fleets for the drivers for leasing who cannot afford to buy them. Rentals have to pay a fixed price for a cab and a refundable assurance for renting a car. The revenue from each trip goes to the drivers by subtracting a commission from Ola. In this way, Ola manages to earn commission and leasing prices from the drives as one of its earning channels.

Ola Corporate Tie-Ups

Ola shook hands with the corporates to convince the employers to use the Ola cars at reduced rates. On increased demands, they are charged for the higher amount. This strategy would get Ola mass sales as of higher demand.

For the commuter who likes entertainment on their way, Ola primes offer an entertaining medium within the cab. For this purpose, it has partnered with Apple Music, Sony Liv, etc., to get the consumers convenience. This would charge a bit higher from the riders as an income generator for Ola.

In Ola Select, regular riders can take membership subscriptions, which have perks like no surge pricing, free WiFi, priority bookings, etc.

Ola Credit Card

Ola has launched one of its revenue models as a credit card in linkage with SBI and VISA. The credit card offers many benefits and rewards to its consumers, like getting up to 7% rewards on Ola trips and zero annual fees for 1st year.

Ola Food Delivery

Ola acquired Foodpanda India in Dec 2017, launching its model based on the food delivery sector. After the 18th month of the acquisition, it sold down Foodpanda, trimming the employees. Instead, Ola wants to focus on in-house brands or cloud kitchens majorly. The fixed share in each successful delivery is one of the major revenue channels in that segment.

Future Plans of Ola

Ola announced its entirely electric vehicles as Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. Ltd. back in 2017. Their mission is to eliminate petrol bikes entirely by 2025. The firm is also expecting it to be one of the highest revenue resources through the projected markets of batteries and electric fleets. Additionally, Ola plans to produce kick scooters, drones, and even flying cars under its future mobility schemes.

Since then, Ola has turned their business from offline to online with an intuitive platform that efficiently conducts business and aids commuters with the best experience. Take advantage of the business model of Ola developing an Ola clone app that shoots up your business and derives optimal revenue streams.

Deep Moteria

Deep Moteria is Director of Elluminati. An aspiring entrepreneur having led 75+ startups on the right path with information-admiring content. He crafts content on topics including on-demand services apps, finances, technology trends, etc.

You Might Also Like

How Vá de Táxi Works: Understand In-depth About Vá de Táxi Business Model & Revenue Insights

Tirhal Business Model: Close Look Towards Its Success and Revenue

Foodhub Business Model: Take a Deep Dive Into its Working Pattern & Revenue Sources

How to Start a Snow Removal Business Online? A Complete Guide

Honk Business Model: Let’s Recognize its Working Pattern and Revenue Stream

99 Business Model – Let’s Emphasize its Success History & Revenue Streams

Want to build a high-tech product? Check what we can do for you.

Indian ride-hailing firm Ola plans to start producing electric cars in 2024

• Medium Text

Sign up here.

Reporting by Manoj Kumar, Editing by David Goodman and Susan Fenton

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. , opens new tab

ZF to pull out of Wolfspeed's German chip plant, reports Handelsblatt

German automotive supplier ZF (ZFF.UL) will no longer take part in a planned chip plant in the German state of Saarland, putting the project on the brink of collapse, the Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing government and industry sources.

Corporate Travel Management - Made Easy!

Let Ola take care of your enterprise travel. The future of corporate travel lies in simplicity and convenience. You are one tap away from trying it out.

How it works

ADD EMPLOYEES VIA DASHBOARD

Sign up to access your Ola Corporate Dashboard and Invite your employees.

EMPLOYEES BOOK THEIR OWN RIDES

Your employees book their rides with the toggle of a button through their Ola app.

YOU PAY FOR THE RIDE INSTANTLY

The ride gets automatically paid through your Ola Corporate balance.

TRACK EXPENSES AND INVOICES

Track ride expense details and download invoices anytime from the dashboard.

Cut down your employee travel expenses

Ola can help your company save a few bucks in managing employee travel.

Hassle-free Accounting

Get rid of the hassle of collecting travel receipts and managing reimbursements.

Greater Control

Set your own ride terms, create cost centres, and control budget allocation.

Effortless Booking

Empower your employees to book their own rides with the tap of a button.

Use Ola Corporate for

Point-to-point travel.

Convenient city travel option with Ola for Business.

Executive Travel

Book comfortable rides with Ola for executives right from our corporate dashboard.

Employee Pickup and Drop

Hassle-free daily commute for employees with Ola.

Employee Perks

Night drops, weekend work travels, easy travel allowance options - we cover it all.

Ola Safety Centre

Our safety standards make sure that your employees are comfortable and secure throughout the trip!

Track Your Ride

Real time ride details can be shared with family and friends.

Verified Professional Drivers

Thorough background checks are conducted on Ola drivers.

Number Privacy

Customer’s mobile number is masked at the driver’s end to ensure privacy.

Emergency alert button

Emergency alert button (!) can be used to alert the emergency contacts or nearest PCR.

Now use Ola for managing your Corporate Travel

Its Easy, Safe and Efficient

Ola launches self-drive car rentals, eyes 20K cars on road by 2020

Cab aggregator Ola today formally launched ‘Ola Drive’ a self-drive car rental service on its platform, with a plan to add 20,000 vehicles by end of 2020, according to a company statement on Thursday. The service was initially rolled out for users in Bengaluru as a pilot, with plans to launch into Hyderabad, Mumbai, and New Delhi shortly.

Ola Drive will allow users to design their own rental package, with an option to pre-set everything from the number of kilometers and hours to fuel inclusion before booking a vehicle. The service will have designated pick-up and drop-off points located across different residential and commercial hubs. Users can choose to book a car of their choice—sedans, hatchbacks, and SUVs— for a minimum of 2 hours along with a security deposit starting at ₹ 2000.

All Ola Drive cars will be equipped with Ola Play, enabled through a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment device, and will include GPS, media playback, and Bluetooth connectivity. Users will also have access to support and safety features such as a 24/7 helpline, road-side assistance, and an emergency button.

Ola Drive will also look at introducing a long-term car subscription option, and a corporate leasing service in the future, according to Arun Srinivas, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of Ola who spoke at a press briefing on Thursday.

He added that Ola Drive currently has around 500 vehicles in Bengaluru, which is sourced directly from automobile manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Ola, however, has no plans to add other vehicle sourcing models such as tie-up with independent vehicle fleet operators and distributors, Srinivas said.

Existing players in the self-drive market including Zoomcar and Drivezy allows users themselves to sub-lease their cars to platforms, under revenue-share model. However, Ola didn’t comment on the specifics of their sourcing model.

Currently, the self-drive car rental market is largely dominated by three players including Zoomcar, Drivezy, and Revv. Drivezy has over 4,000 cars on its fleet, Zoomcar claims to have more than 7,000 vehicles, and Revv has over 3,500 vehicles, which sums up to around 14,500 cars on road.

However, according to at least two investors that Mint spoke with, Ola’s aggressive proposal to add an additional 20,000 vehicles into the market and outnumbering competitors don’t add up with the current market sentiment.

“Their (Ola’s) core ride-hailing businesses maybe have hit a flat growth, hence why the company is exploring several other avenues such as Ola Drive, Ola Food, and Ola Electric…Even if you look at its rival Uber, globally, their (Uber’s) core ride-hailing numbers have also not grown sequentially when they presented numbers for their last analyst call,” said an venture capital investor in the mobility space, requesting anonymity.

The person quoted above added that the self-drive market’s biggest challenge is finding demand since the supply of vehicles can now be financed now on both equity and debt options. Most of the demand is generated either from people using self-drive cars for weekend leisure rides, as well as some seasonal demand during public holidays for longer trips between cities.

“Hence, at times these vehicles (on self-drive platforms) will remain un-used during the weekdays, so if Ola would be able to utilize un-used assets directly on their core ride-hailing, that could be a game-changer for Ola,” the investor quoted above added.