Home-grown ride-hailing platform Ola on Tuesday said more than 10,000 private hire vehicle (PHV) drivers in London have already registered on its platform, three weeks after it announced plans to start operations in the city.
The company plans to launch operations in London in the coming weeks it said.
This comes against the backdrop of rival cab-hailer Uber’s commercial licence being revoked by Transport for London (TfL) last month, after authorities found that almost 14,000 trips were made by drivers with fake identities on the company’s platform.
Earlier this year, Ola had received an operating licence from TfL, the local government body responsible for the transport system in the city.
Ola will not charge commission for the first two months, allowing drivers to retain 100% of their earnings. Later, it will continue to offer the best revenue share for drivers, allowing them to keep more of their earnings, in line with the company’s driver-centric approach, it said.
The ride-hailing platform said the drivers have signed up both online and offline to drive with Ola, and have completed the required checks. Driver documents have been verified and mandatory training modules, created by Ola, will help ensure drivers are ready to use the platform when it launches, it said.
“Every interaction with drivers in the city has presented us with an opportunity to create a platform that best serves their needs, as well as those of consumers… a large number of these registrations have occurred through referrals and word of mouth among drivers, reiterating their trust in the Ola platform and the attractiveness of our offer. We look forward to working closely with drivers in building a high quality and reliable mobility service for Londoners,” said Simon Smith, head of international, Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd).
Ola had entered the UK with operations in Cardiff in August last year. The Bengaluru-based company has expanded rapidly, operating across 27 local authorities. The company said there has been more than double-digit growth in rides in Birmingham, Coventry, and Warwick, in the last quarter. To date, Ola has provided around three million rides with more than 11,000 drivers operating on the platform outside London, it said.
All drivers on the Ola platform are PHV licence holders, authorized by TfL to drive and extend their services to consumers. This includes mandatory verification of documents, an “enhanced” criminal record check, disclosure and barring service training and medical examination.
