Following the $200-million buyout of TaxiForSure (TFS) by Ola, the latter has acquired TFS’s entire fleet of autorickshaws to add to its existing kitty of 40,000 autos. The move to shift auto services totally from TFS to the Ola platform was guided by the logic that TFS could focus on it cab business.
TFS had launched auto booking for commuters in Bengaluru in January — two months after Ola had launched a similar service. However, for TFS, the auto bookings survived only three months before being moved to the Ola platform. TFS had around 500 auto rickshaws registered with it, clocking 400 auto rides a day.
“After the integration, we have moved the auto services to the Ola platform because we were in just one city and they were in six cities. So we thought it would be fair that it [Ola] takes care of the auto services as a whole and we focus only on the cab business,” said Arvind Singhal, CEO, TaxiForSure.
Ola offers auto bookings in six cities in India and it recently added cashless payment for auto and taxi rides. The fare will be deducted from commuters’ Ola wallet. Ola started auto bookings six months ago on its app and has partnered 40,000 auto rickshaws.
“They are combined as an entity and as a business this is the synergy you are trying to make. If the TFS auto service weren’t doing well and cabs were doing good, it’s logical that they are running one model for TFS and other for Ola,” said Sandeep Murthy, Partner, Lightbox Ventures.
As part of the deal, both the companies function independently but under the umbrella of parent company ANI Technologies. TFS is now present in 52 cities and plans to enter eight more cities within the next three months. “We are focusing on the cab business and that’s where we are building our new products,” said Singhal.
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