After being launched in Perth and Sydney, Ola has now made the push into Melbourne. But it has a pretty huge rival to contend with. Uber has also just launched its rival service in Australia – UberPOOL. Ouch.
Ola originally begun in India and is now accessible in over 110 cities across both India and Australia. And Uber has been hot on its heels – launching on April 3 across Australia, mere weeks after Ola rolled out in Sydney.
Considering that UberPOOL was first introduced to the US 4 years ago, the timing on its push into the Australian market seems a little convenient. We’ll have to wait and see how this one plays out.
To entice Melbournians into trying the app (which is available on Android and iOS), Ola are offering an introductory special where customers can get two free rides up to the value of $20, as well as 50% every ride after that during the undefined promotion period. We have reached out to Ola to get these dates.
The company is also pushing for more driver partners with a 7.5% introductory commission rate, which is a market low, as well as daily payments. There are currently 15,000 registered Ola drivers in Australia.
While we don’t have dates yet, the Ola website states that the service will be available in Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Gold Coast soon.