Online taxi aggregator Ola has slashed fares by half in four cities, matching the levels of auto fares in Bengaluru in 2003 — at R5 a kilometre. Customers can now ride at Rs 5 per kilometre in Ola mini and sedan between 11 am and 4 pm on all the weekdays in Bengaluru, Delhi, Pune and Kolkata.
Ola’s competitor Uber India too had almost halved its fares earlier this year and fixed it in the range of R7-10 per km for various categories. TaxiForSure, the Ola acquired firm, offers rides at Rs 6 per km.
The cab aggregators have been aggressive with regular fare cuts. A cab operator like Meru had raised the issue with the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which is currently investigating the case. There has been protests from various taxi operators in various cities to ban such services, which they felt was unfair to their business.
The CCI had last month said the investigation into alleged predatory pricing of Ola was at a ‘preliminary stage’.
The watchdog had ordered a detailed probe after it prima-facie found evidence of Ola violating the competition norms.
Ola is backed by blue-chip investors like Tiger Global, Matrix Partners and Sequoia Capital, among others.