Hours After Uber Announces Bike Taxis, Ola Follows Suit

Ola cabs, which has been aggressively looking to be a bigger part of the Commutech industry by experimenting with Share rides, Autos and Shuttles ( and shutting down its groceries vertical) has now rolled out possibly the last remaining piece of puzzle to complete the transport gamut. The Bangalore-based startup has just announced the launch of Ola Bike Taxis.

Ola Bike TAxis

Curiously Ola calls it “first kind of two-wheeler transportation in India”, while the announcement comes a few hours after Uber launched UberMoto – its bike taxis arm in Bangalore. The concept of bike taxis itself in India has caught up with first mover startups like Hey Bob.

As with booking a cab, with bike taxi the driver details will be displayed upfront and it will have features like SOS, live tracking and payment using Ola Money. Interestingly, all pillion riders will be provided with helmets as mandated for their safety.

“Bike Taxis on the Ola app will help customers zip through traffic with ease, at lowest fares. At an introductory fare of Rs 2 per km and Re. 1 per minute of trip time, Bike Taxis will be available to book through Ola’s app in the city of Bangalore to begin with. The minimum fare will be Rs. 30.”, says Ola on its official blog. Both UberMoto and Ola have rolled out the Bike Taxi pilot in Bangalore. Though, at these prices Ola Bike taxis will be cheaper than UberMoto which will cost Rs.3/km. 

That the Commutech sector in India is heating up is established. The intensity with which the top rivals seem to be catching up with each other is staggering. While the customer is now spoilt for transport options, the race to be the number 1 player is on, and the competition is zipping along bumper to bumper.