Ola’s Latest ‘Play’: Personalising The Commuter’s Ride
Ola to give commuters control over in-car entertainment, air conditioning inside the cab.
The country’s largest cab aggregator Ola Cabs on Tuesday launched a new in-car entertainment platform for commuters as it looks to stave off competition from rival Uber Technologies Inc.
Christened Ola Play, it is a connected car platform, which Ola’s co-founder and chief executive officer Bhavish Aggarwal said is a first of its kind experience, aimed at changing the ride-sharing experience for commuters.
We have been working on this for over a year now and will be launching it next week. Over 60 million minutes are spent on Ola rides everyday. We want to make this time more productive, comfortable and convenient for the customer.Bhavish Aggarwal, Co-Founder & CEO, Ola Cabs
The in-car system will give users control over certain features like the entertainment system and air conditioning once they board the cab. “The moment a commuter steps inside the car, he will have the control at his fingertips," Aggarwal said.
The homegrown aggregator has tied up with Apple Music, Audio Compass, Fynd and Sony Pictures India to provide these services.
Ola Play will be available on all Ola Prime cars in the next three months, before covering the entire range, in a phased manner. Commuters enlisted on Ola’s loyalty program, Ola Select will be the first to get access to this new platform, said Aggarwal.
Ola Select customers in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi will be the first to get these services before they are introduced in 50,000 cars registered with Ola by March next year.
Ola which is backed by Japan's SoftBank Group and China's Didi Chuxing among others is fighting an aggressive battle with global ride-hailing giant Uber as both try to expand their reach in India.