Mobile app-driven ride-hailing company Ola reintroduced its bike taxi service in Bengaluru on September 16.
In a social media post on X (formerly Twitter), Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal announced the revival of Ola Bike service. He specified that Ola would exclusively use its S1 range of scooters for this bike service.
“For just ₹25 for 5km and ₹50 for 10km, offering both affordability and comfort while being eco-friendly! We plan to expand this service throughout India in the upcoming months.”
An Ola spokesperson told The Hindu that the service is scheduled for an official launch in Bengaluru some time next week.
The announcement comes days after auto and cab drivers vented their ire at bike taxi drivers at a strike called by Federation of Karnataka State Private Transport Association. The tussle between auto drivers and bike taxi riders, which has been going on for some time now, reached its peak during the protest as the former allegedly thrashed many bike taxi riders in Bengaluru on September 11 where various private transport associations held protests.
Bike taxi services made their debut in Bengaluru in 2015-16. Since then, the services have always operated amidst controversies.
When aggregators, including Bengaluru-based start-ups, introduced the services, the Transport Department came down heavily on them by impounding vehicles and booking cases against owners of two-wheelers who attached vehicles with the aggregators. Continued action by the department forced the aggregators to either suspend or stop the services for some time.
Later in the day, Mr. Aggarwal further announced that the company will be starting Ola e bike taxi services in a town below 1 lakh population in Karnataka next week. “Ride hailing has been concentrated in top 15-20 cities so far. With electric bike taxis we will change that and go deeper into smaller towns. Will be starting Ola e bike taxi services in a < 1 lakh population town in Karnataka next week. Any recommendations?,” he posted.
