Intensifying competition in India’s taxi aggregation space, Ola today announced expansion of its low-cost ‘Micro’ service to non-metros like Ajmer, Udaipur and Nagpur, while rival Uber slashed fares in these cities.
“Ola Micro has expanded to 14 new cities. In total, Micro is now present in 27 cities in the country. The base fare in these cities is as low as Rs 30 followed by about Rs 6 per km,” Ola Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Categories Raghuvesh Sarup told PTI.
Ola Micro is now available in Nashik, Surat, Vadodara, Ajmer, Visakhapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram, Jodhpur, Mangaluru, Kochi, Mysore, Indore, Bhopal, Udaipur and Nagpur, he added.
Interestingly, its US-based rival Uber has slashed fares by up to 22 per cent in 10 non-metros, which also include some of the cities where Ola has now added its Micro offering.
“These cities are experiencing rapid economic growth and hold tremendous potential to grow as Metros of tomorrow.
Understanding the unique needs of customers in these cities, we are confident of fuelling the continued growth of these ambitious Tier II cities,” he said.
Sarup said Micro alone, in its first 3 weeks since launch, crossed the daily bookings that Ola as a platform did in 3 years and is estimated to be well over 50 per cent the size of competition in such a short span of time.
