Ola Busy In Wooing Drivers, Launches Rewards-Oriented Initiatives

In a bid to woo over 100,000 drivers on its platform across 85+ cities with rewards ranging from cash to consumer durables, mobile app-based taxi aggregator, Ola has announced the launch of ‘Ola Stars’ partner rewards program with a host of special schemes and benefits. The Ola Stars program will be made available exclusively to drivers on the Ola platform, basis their performance every month.

This is the first ever rewards-oriented initiative in India for drivers, and will include personal and professional benefits ranging from medical insurance, scholarship for children, skill development training to fuel discounts and car-servicing benefits.

Speaking on the plans, Puneet Singh Arora, Head – Strategic Initiatives, Ola, said, “Our driver partners are the most important aspect of the ecosystem. Ola Stars is aimed at rewarding the best drivers on the platform, and will go beyond just recognition and incentives to encourage holistic growth for drivers and their families. We have always received tremendous support from our driver partners and this program is an acknowledgement of their efforts.”

Ola is giving away Medical Insurance, Life Insurance cover of INR 2 lakh, Personal Accident Insurance cover of INR 5 lakhs, Scholarship for children, and many more rewards under this program.

Besides, Ola is going to launch ‘Ola Pragati’. Under the Ola Pragati program, SBI and other reputed financial institutions will offer car loans to drivers on Ola’s platform with a daily repayment scheme as against the current practice of an EMI. Through Ola Pragati, drivers on the Ola platform will also benefit from lower down payment of just 10%, 24-hour loan approval from the financier and easier documentation.

Ola, founded in Jan 2011 by IIT Bombay alumni Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola app is currently available on the Windows, Android and iOS store. Customers can book from over 1,00,000 vehicles across 85+ cities. Using the Ola app, commuters can also book autos in Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Kaali-Peeli taxis in Mumbai.

Recently, Ola has also acquired TaxiForSure, India’s second largest cab aggregator, which will continue to operate as an independent brand. Ola has also launched food delivery service in 4 cities i.e. Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore, which is expected to be launched in other cities as well, over a period of time. Named as Ola Cafe, the service claims to deliver food in just 20 minutes!

In the similar space, Times Internet has recently, entered into a strategic partnership with Uber, which is said to be an INR 150 Cr. deal.