With the help of its own electric scooters named S1, Ola has begun offering its bike service in Bengaluru. A 5 kilometre ride would cost Rs 25, and a 10 km journey will cost Rs 50. In the upcoming months, Ola intends to extend this service over all of India.
On September 16, the ride-sharing company Ola Cabs stated that it would resume its bike taxi services and limit its scooter operations in Bengaluru to Ola Electric’s S1 models.
“Restarting Ola Bike in Blr today…This time, all-electric and our own S1 scooters!,” Co-founder and CEO of Ola, Bhavish Aggarwal, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The price has been set by the company at Rs 25 for 5 km and Rs 50 for 10 km.
Lowest price, excellent comfort, and excellent for the environment! Will spread throughout India over the upcoming months,” wrote Aggarwal.
This occurs at a time when the government is closely monitoring the use of bike taxis. Governments in several states, including Karnataka, are considering outlawing bike taxis.
On Tuesday of this week, Ramalinga Reddy, a state minister for Karnataka, stated that the state is attempting to outlaw Rapido bike taxis forever.
The bike taxi prohibition follows two riding-related concerns, namely those involving women’s safety and becoming electric.
Considering Ola‘s ‘all electric’ goal, analysts think the company is in a secure position.
In reality, Karnataka launched its electric bike taxi program in July 2021, making it the first state in the nation to do so. In Bengaluru, however, not a single operator has started providing e-bike taxi services even after two years.
The bike taxi policy’s main goals were to improve first- and last-mile connectivity, particularly from metro, bus, and train stations, and to create jobs. It was also anticipated that the bother of haggling with autorickshaw drivers who either refuse long distance journeys or demand exorbitant fees would be eliminated.
A strike was called on Monday afternoon by the Federation of Karnataka State Private Transport Association, which represents 36 bus, taxi, and cargo vehicle unions. Regulating the bike taxi services was one of the main requests.
The Delhi Transport Department on February 20 issued a public notice to suspend operating their bike taxi services effective immediately, dealing a severe blow to ride-sharing companies Ola, Uber, and Rapido.
However, the Delhi High Court’s ruling permitting bike aggregators to continue their business activities until the laws are issued was affirmed by the Supreme Court in June.
The Supreme Court was then informed by the Delhi administration that the new policy would be developed by July 31.
