After Australia, UK, now Ola to battle it out with Uber in New Zealand

After Australia and the United Kingdom, it's time for Ola to make expansion in New Zealand where it will be battling it out with the rival company Uber. The SoftBank-backed Indian cab hailing app Ola has been aggressively making its foray into global markets. Ola's entry in New Zealand follows its launch in Australia in February 2018 and the UK in August 2018.

To begin with, Ola will provide services around Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. To build its presence in the country, Ola has roped in Brian Dewil as the country manager for New Zealand. Brian, who founded UrbanSherpa and co-founded Horizon Robotics, a robotic technologies startup, will handle the company's operations in the country. "We see a real opportunity in New Zealand to provide a fair alternative in rideshare space for both customers and drivers. We invested in understanding the New Zealand customer and devised the right strategy to meet their transport needs," Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said.

The company said Ola has invited private vehicle owners to register on its platform and earn starting commission of 9 per cent. After the initial rollout of the services, the company could also expand to other cities of the country as well. "Kiwis have had too little choice when it comes to rideshare. Ola's arrival will create a compelling experience that puts the quality of rides first," said Dewil. Right now, only Uber dominates the country's ridesharing market.

With just seven years of its formation, Ola has enabled "smart transportation to over 125 million users in India, Australia and the UK," a company statement said. Ola's approach in the UK is slightly different. It will not only offer passengers the option to book private hire vehicles (PHVs) but also black cabs. They are also planning to add other modes of transport on the same platform in the future.

Besides, Ola operates in seven major cities across Australia and has close to 50,000 registered drivers who have completed millions of rides. In India, it operates in around 110 cities. With the backing of strong investors like SoftBank, Tencent, Tiger Global, etc, Ola has given a tough time for global ride-hailing giant Uber. The company boasts of having over 10 lakh drivers across India as compared to Uber's 4.5 lakh. Ola's network has also increased to over 56 per cent -- as per the market intelligence firm KalaGato's 2017 survey -- in the Indian market.