Ola Bike launched in Gurgaon on pilot basis

Residents of Gurgaon will now be able to choose between seven bike taxi operators with taxi aggregator Ola starting the trial run of its bike taxi service. This trial comes close on the heels of UberMOTO's launch in the city. These trials started about two weeks ago, and on Sunday Ola sent out mails to its customers offering free rides on Ola bikes till April 30.

In a statement, Ola said: "As part of the pilot launch of Ola Bike in Gurgaon, we have made the service available to select customers in limited areas across the city. The launch of this pilot is in accordance with the law of our land and fulfils regulatory requirements like usage of commercially registered vehicles and requisite commercial insurance for the driver and pillion rider. Post the pilot, we will evaluate the extension of this initiative to the entire city, after requisite consultation with the authorities." 

Sources said Ola will launch with yellow number plates and that the company is already running a fleet of 50-70 bikes in certain areas in the city.

The base fare of the Ola service is Rs 20, with an additional Rs 4for every kilometre and Re 1 per minute. This is comparable to the fares of the other bike taxi operators. 

For Baxi, Rs 10 is the base fare with Rs 4 for every km and Re 1 per minute. Uber Moto has a set minimum fare at Rs 15, followed by Rs 3 per km and Rs 1 per minute of ride-time charges. The minimum fare is Rs 20. 

Bike taxis may well become a trend in the city that has only autos as the last-mile transport option. Gurgaon has become a crowded market for bike taxis with as many as seven companies starting services in the city over the past year.

Source : BS Motoring