Online taxi aggregator Ola launched its premium category service ‘Prime’ in Kolkata on Wednesday, April 19th. Customers here can now avail cars like Toyota Innova, Mahindra Verito, Nissan Sunny, Toyota Etios and Maruti Suzuki Dzire with the ‘Auto- Connect Wi-Fi’ facility, with the fare starting at Rs. 10 per kilometer.
Raghuvesh Sarup, CMO, and Head of Categories, Ola, said, “Kolkata is one of our fastest growing markets in India, and we are seeing very high demand across all categories here. We will continue to solve its critical issues at large viz. traffic congestion and pollution, as we grow the mobile ecosystem in the country and build mobility for billion Indians.”
Prime is now available in six cities- Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Hyderabad. After upgrading the Sedan category to Prime in Bangalore, Delhi, and Mumbai, Ola Prime is now being launched in these three new cities.
Ola Prime Fare Table-Kolkata
Base Fare
Per km Fare
Ride Time
Rs 99 for first 4km
Rs 10
Re 1/ minute
Sarup added, “The success that we have seen across other markets and the growing demand for a superior in-cab experience has led to the introduction of the Prime.”
Chennai is the second fastest growing market for Ola after Bengaluru and it currently offers services under Micro, Mini, Sedan, Prime in cab services apart from Auto-rickshaw booking facilities.
In August last year, Ola brought drivers of the city’s traditional yellow cab drive on its ambit, who were equipped with smartphones that enable them to accept booking requests and navigate to the customer’s doorstep. Drivers of these cabs will, however, have an option of logging out of the Ola platform and resume their normal operations.
On the yellow cabs, Ola charges 10 rupees more as a convenience rate over government’s fixed meter. This move had not gone down well with the Kolkata Taxi Operators’ Union as they had called a strike last year demanding cab aggregators be brought under the traditional taxi system.
Ola’s tie-up with yellow cabs has been seen as an effort to bring the other camp on board. Earlier, Ola had tried to buy peace with local operators in Mumbai by bringing traditional black-and-yellow cabs under its network.
Returning with its initiative, ‘Restaurant Week’, the company will offer complimentary Ola Prime rides to and from their meals to all ‘Restaurant Week’ diners in Kolkata, starting from April 22nd to May 1st. It will feature over hundred of the country’s finest restaurants, where diners will receive complimentary Ola rides to and from their meals in Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata.
Watch the Ola Founder’s Story and the making of Ola on My Big Plunge in association with Economic Times –
