Ola goes international, kick starts its operations in Australia

Home based cag aggregator Ola on Wednesday said that it has started offering its services in Perth, Australia, "on a limited basis".

The SoftBank-backed company last month had announced its plans to make a foray into the Australian market.

"Ola, one of the world's largest ride-sharing platforms, is now available on a limited basis to customers in Perth," Ola said in a statement.

As part of the soft launch offer, Perth-based customers will be given their first two rides free up to the value of AUD 10 per ride, it added.

Earlier this year, Bengaluru-based ride hailing app Ola announced plans to enter its first international market. In Australia, Ola would again be competing with its arch rival Uber.

Uber and Ola are fighting for the market share in India. Uber had launched its operations in Australia in 2012 and currently operates in 19 Australian cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra.

As part of its international expansion, Ola has begun onboarding private hire vehicles and driver-partners onto its platform in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth, according to a company statement released on Tuesday. The company has invited them to learn more about driving and registering with Ola.

Further details of the start of commercial operations, which will be subject to necessary regulatory approvals, will be announced later.

"We are very excited about launching Ola in Australia and see immense potential for the ride-sharing ecosystem which embraces new technology and innovation," Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal said.

The company aims to create a high-quality and affordable travel experience for citizens with a strong focus on driver-partners and the community at large.

Founded in 2011, Ola has over 125 million users and more than one million driver-partners across 110 cities on its platform in India. On an aggregate basis, Ola serves as many as a billion rides annually, through its platform.