Ola to triple its locations in Australia and New Zealand

ANI Technologies, which operates ride-hailing platform Ola, is planning to launch its services in 11 new locations each in Australia and New Zealand. This move will take its total presence to 33 cities in the region.

Over 85,000 drivers have signed up for the service, the company said in a statement.

“We have seen a phenomenal response to our services across Australia and New Zealand since our launch in February last year. Ola’s competitive edge lies in offering better value fares to customers and a better deal for drivers, who earn more from every ride, and bringing industry-leading safety-tech innovations to the local market,” said Simon Smith, head of international, Ola.

The company is aiming to double its scale by 2021, the statement added.

In October, the company had launched a self-drive car-renting service named Ola Drive in Bengaluru. The company announced its presence in Australia by launching services in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in August.

In July, it had been granted a private hire vehicle (PHV) operator license to operate its taxi service in London.

SoftBank-backed Ola’s losses narrowed by 57% amid several media reports about employee layoffs. Its losses narrowed to Rs 1160.27 crore or Rs 583.03 per share in the financial year ended March 31, 2019, from Rs 2676.70 crore or Rs 1346.91 per share a year earlier.