Ola to roll out premium service Prime Plus to more users

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Ola will roll out its new premium service, Prime Plus, to all users in Bengaluru on Monday, and to several other cities during the month, the company’s cofounder and chief executive Bhavish Aggarwal said on Twitter. “Prime+ has been a great pilot in Bengaluru over past couple of months. Today we’re opening it up for all customers in Bengaluru.

Also, through this month launching in more cities!” Aggarwal tweeted. In May, Ola launched the pilot programme of Prime Plus to select users in Bengaluru. The new premium service offers top cars and drivers and claims to be free of cancellations.

ET had reported earlier that Prime Plus is priced higher than other categories available on Ola. Currently, Ola operates the Mini, Auto and Bike categories. Users can also book Prime Sedan, Prime SUV, and Rentals for four-wheeler taxis on its app.

Drivers with experience in the Ola marketplace with top ratings and other quality metrics will be eligible to offer the new service. The Prime Plus service is separate from the electric vehicle (EV) cab service Ola is set to pilot. ET had reported in January that the SoftBank-backed platform plans to start its own EV cab service, the pilot of which is expected to begin in Bengaluru with around 1,000 cabs.

It will be available on the Ola app as a separate category. Ola’s move to introduce a new cancellation-free service comes at a time when the ride hailing segment in India has seen customers suffer due to driver cancellations. Recently, Bengaluru-based Ola saw its valuation being marked down by some of its existing investors.