Ola offers cab service in three more UK cities

Bengaluru, March 29 (IANS) India's leading ride-hailing aggregator Ola on Friday rolled out its cab service in the UK's Birmingham, Liverpool and Reading cities, offering private hire vehicles and black cabs to commuters.

"The local councils in the three cities granted us license to offer taxi and private hire vehicles to commuters in Birmingham, Liverpool and Reading," said the city-based firm in a statement here.

Ola forayed into Britain in August 2018, with maiden service in Cardiff, followed by similar rides in Bath, Bristol and Exeter in November.

The company's online platform is also offering discounted rides on its app (application) to new customers across seven cities in the UK.

"Our app also provides travel choice and easier access to cabs. We offered free rides to customers in Liverpool on green tuk-tuks last week to promote our service," said the statement.

"To empower drivers, we offer revenue share, charging 10 per cent commission to black cabs and 15 per cent to private hire cabs as against 25 per cent by competitors," said Ola UK Managing Director Ben Legg in the statement.

"We got requests from users across Britain for our service in their cities. We work with local authorities to help communities grow and achieve enhanced transport access, safety and mobility across the cities," said Legg.

The company is committed to ensure passenger safety, with disclosure and barring service and screened drivers.

"We also offer 24-hour safety support with our in-app customer care and emergency service," added the statement.

Co-founded in 2011 by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola's ride-sharing service is available in 125 cities across the country and nine cities in Australia.