Ola cabs

Ola to provide interest-free loans to drivers in face of COVID-19 lockdown

Ola cabs has announced the introduction of a micro-credit initiative for its drivers, in a bid to lend financial aid in times of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

The initiative is called ‘Sahyog’ and is being targeted at over 1 lac driver-partners that are presently associated with Ola cabs.

It will provide interest-free loans to drivers on its platforms to address the immediate liquidity crisis faced by drivers across the country.

Drivers of cabs have been hard hit under the COVID-19 lockdown, with many not having funds to make ends meet.

As part of the initiative, Ola cabs will be extending small loans of Rs 1,200 per person per week, for three weeks, hence extending total financial assistance of Rs 3,600 per driver.

Ola will disburse these loans via micro-finance company Avail Finance to drivers across its categories including Ola Auto, Ola Rentals and Outstation.

“Sahyog enables them to access micro-credit instantly, in their registered bank accounts, allowing drivers and their families to tide through these difficult times,” said Anand Subramanian, Spokesperson and Head of Communications, Ola in a statement.

“Avail’s platform will help Ola identify eligible driver-partners as well as to manage the disbursement of credit in real-time,” said Ankush Aggarwal, Founder & CEO, Avail Finance.

This unique offering is tailor-made for Ola driver-partners and will help address immediate liquidity needs of over a lakh families driver-partners and their families pan India.

This move follows Ola’s multiple initiatives focused on the well-being and economic upliftment of the driver community, who have been one of the worst-hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Newest partnership on the block: Ola partners SBI and PNB to set up Mobile ATMs

Ola has recently signed a partnership with the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank to help people out with cash after the tedious demonetization move.

With the newest partnership on the block, customers can now withdraw cash by simply swiping their debit cards in selected Ola Cabs. Ola has recently signed a partnership with the State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank to help people out with cash after the tedious demonetization move. Each person will be allowed to withdraw a maximum sum of INR 2000.

Just like cash being dispensed in petrol pumps, Ola is trying to help people out with INR 100 and the new INR 2000 notes. The testing of this new feature is being done in Kolkata and Hyderabad as taxis are now being equipped with bank officers and a POS machine. In Kolkata, Ola tied up with Punjab National Bank while in Hyderabad Ola entered into a partnership with SBI and Andhra Bank.

Since the initial response has been great, Ola is currently planning to extend this service to other curies as well.

“The week-long activity, that is already servicing thousands of citizens, will continue till end of the month. It (cabs) will visit areas like Chandni Chowk Metro Station, Esplanade Metro, Barabazaar, Salt Lake, Exide and Rashbehari (in Kolkata). Cars carrying POS machine are servicing citizens in popular areas in Hyderabad like KBR Park, JNTU, Inorbit Mall over the weekend. We are also looking at flagging off the programme in other key cities, including Delhi. The banks are providing on-ground executives to enable people withdraw cash seamlessly.” -Pranay Jivrajka, Chief Operating officer, Ola Cabs

This new partnership will benefit people in a huge way because there are long queues outside ATMs daily. This feature will provide relief to people who need cash instantly. Ola also has its own mobile wallet service which has seen a 1500% growth since the demonetization move.

Ola cabs launches its revolutionary offline services

Ola, has currently upgraded their technology and come up with a new and revolutionary feature called Ola Offline which gives customers the option of booking cabs even when they aren’t connected to the internet.

Ola and Uber have been engaged in a constant battle to outdo the other player by offering additional services and facilities across the country. However, the Indian born company, Ola, has currently upgraded their technology and come up with a new and revolutionary feature called Ola Offline which gives customers the option of booking cabs even when they aren’t connected to the internet. The feature will be available for all types of bookings- Micro, mini, prime, share and shuttle. Currently, the feature exists in the metro cities but will soon be available across all cities where Ola is available.

This feature has been introduced because even though internet penetration in the country is increasing, many small towns and cities aren’t very well-equipped with the idea of internet and how to use it. By offering this feature, Ola will help them with their struggle with the internet.

“As the country ushers in the digital revolution with projects such as Digital India and Smart Cities, the way users experience technology is changing. While connectivity continues to be an infrastructural challenge, we are constantly building innovative technology that helps fill the gap, and the launch of the ‘Offline feature’ is a major step in that direction. We understand that while an Ola might be available around you, a working Internet connection might not always be. Ola Offline will now plug this gap.” – Ankit Bhati, CTO & Co-Founder

The process:

When the booking option on the app fails due to bad/no internet connectivity, you get two options: Retry or Book via SMS. Choose the latter and you will be able to see a pre-entered text message requesting Ola services. Send this message and once received by the company, you will be receive an SMS with the information about the nearest cabs across the various categories. Select the preferred cab category and in some time, you’ll receive the details about the cab and the driver and the driver can locate the user through GPS tracking system and via call.

Meanwhile, if your internet connectivity resumes, all features will be available on the app again.