Ola vs Uber: How The Battle Impacts Indian Users?

Well, as a taxi user, I would different parameters to make a decision on whether to use Ola vs Uber. These parameters may include low cost of travelling, less waiting time for a taxi, etc. There has been a series of price wars between these two cab hiring companies. They’ve taken each other to court, have postured about their market shares and they even seem to viscerally hate each other. Cab aggregator, Ola and Uber Technologies Inc. have done it all in the past one year as they have tried to assert their dominance in India’s largely fragmented cab market.

Which Of Them Rules Your Mobile Phone?

App install data seems to indicate that Ola has the lead in India. The Ola app has been downloaded more than twice as much as Uber. Although Ola’s reach appears to be a lot bigger than Uber’s, it’s worth pointing out that the actual experience in smaller towns can be a little different than using the service in cities – on a recent trip to Lucknow, we saw wait times of over 30 minutes at all times, and had multiple trips cancelled by drivers who said we were too far away. This makes sense when you consider that its fleet of taxis is, at best, 30 percent bigger than Uber’s (and probably less than that), but it’s covering nearly five times as many cities.

Business Model Of Ola Vs Uber

Before Uber arrived in India though, another company was able to implement a similar model here, and today, Ola is one of the most well-funded tech startups in India. It raised over $900 million (approximately Rs. 6,713 crores) in 2015 alone, valued at over $5 billion (approximately Rs. 33,058 crores).The business model of Ola Cabs works by generating funds from charging a commission in the sales they make. OLA also charges taxi owners a small fee in lieu of giving them access to the technology platform on their mobile apps and for making their services more accessible to customers. The business model of Ola Cabs also works by getting money from grocery deliveries, peak time peak charges etc. OLA Cab provides different services like Ola Mini, Ola Prime and Ola Luxury depending on the needs of the customers and charges fares accordingly. For example OLA Mini Charges for a Cab service in Delhi Rs 100 for the first 4 kilometers and the Rs 8 per kilometer.

It’s hard to believe that a company, whose only product is an app on your phone that calls taxis it doesn’t even own, is valued at $62.5 billion (approximately Rs. 4, 19,562.5 crores). What has made Uber so successful is the fact that the revenue model of Uber is as unique as their business model. It has Different cab models to cater to everyone. It has not limited itself to a particular segment of cars or to a particular segment of people. There is Uber X, Uber Black for those who love to travel in a black car, Uber Taxi for those looking for cost-efficient solutions and Uber SUV for those who want luxury. There is also Surge Pricing Technology. Whenever the demand increases, per mile prices are automatically increased. These models state to show how different executions of the same idea can result in such different end products.

What’s Special For You This Diwali ?

Be it Ola or Uber, both of them has some freebies for you this Diwali, if you book a cab anytime, anywhere for this Diwali celebration week. For Uber, you can even get a free ride worth Rs. 250, while Ola offers you freebies at the time of pick up. These freebies are a surprise which will be unveiled only when you book a ride.

Uber’s playbook hasn’t seen it take a position of dominance in India, where Ola is providing real competition. While data seems to indicate that Ola is presently in a leading position in India, it’s too early to declare a winner. Uber has a fearsome reputation of taking on competitors in every market it has entered. It is not for nothing that it is the most valuable American company of its generation. But India could be a different ballgame.