Ola Drivers Need To Pay INR 2,010 A Month To Avail Zero Commission Model

Ola Consumer drivers can now avail the company’s zero commission model by subscribing to a 30-day pass for which they will have to pay INR 67 per day. This translates to INR 2,010 per month, the ride-hailing major announced in a social media page.

In a statement, the company said its nationwide zero-commission model would cover autos, bikes and cabs. 

The Bhavish Aggarwal-led unicorn said that the new model will allow drivers to retain 100% of their income. 

“The launch of 0% commission model pan India marks a fundamental shift in the ride-hailing businesses. Removing commissions empowers driver partners with much more ownership and opportunity. They are the backbone of the mobility ecosystem and giving them complete control of their earnings will help in creating a more resilient and sustainable ride-hailing network across the country,” an Ola Spokesperson said. 

The development comes on the heels of the ride-hailing major’s clashes with its drivers due to high commissions. Earlier in February, an auto and cab drivers union in Chennai protested against Ola and its archrival Uber over high commissions charged on daily rides. 

Shortly after the protests were reported, Uber rolled out its  zero commission model for auto drivers across India. The company now acts solely as a technology platform connecting riders with independent driver partners. Notably, Rapido and Namma Yatri already run their platforms on a zero-commission model. 

Ola’s Bumpy Ride 

Founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati in 2010, Ola Cabs began initially as a taxi aggregator in Mumbai before expanding its services nationwide. It has raised around $4.74 Bn since its inception from investors like Softbank, Tiger Global, Warburg Pincus among others. 

However, over the years, Ola expanded into financial services (Ola Financial Services), Ola Fleet (leasing vehicles to drivers) and Ola Foods (cloud kitchens). 

In August 2024, during Ola group’s flagship programme ‘Sankalp’, Aggarwal announced the rebranding of Ola Cabs to Ola Consumer in a bid to broaden its identity from ride-hailing to entire consumer services. 

Back then, the company also launched a credit platform, Ola Credit. Under this, Ola users can get access to low-cost loans. Later in the year, Ola Consumer began piloting its 10-minute food delivery offering in some parts of Bengaluru.

However, there haven’t been many updates from Ola Consumer on any of its offerings since then. Amid all these, Ola Consumer was also reported to be preparing for its IPO. In November last year, it took the first step in its IPO journey by turning into a public limited company. Since then, there have been no updates on that front. 

On the financial front, Ola Consumers’ parent ANI Technologies reported a 57.46% decline in its consolidated net loss to INR 328.5 Cr in FY24 from INR 772.2 Cr in the previous fiscal year. However, its operating revenue slipped 5.48% to INR 2,011.9 Cr in FY24 from INR 2,128.5 Cr in FY23.