Ola expands in Australia; launches cab services in three more cities

Indian cab-hailing firm Ola on Tuesday said it has expanded its services in Australia to three more cities - Brisbane, Gold Coast and Canberra.

The SoftBank-backed company also plans to roll out services to Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart in the coming months, Ola said in a statement.

In January, Ola had announced its plans to foray into the Australian market. Thereafter, it started offering services in six cities including Melbourne and Perth.

Ola said its service has received a strong response from driver-partners with over 30,000 driver-partners registered across Australia.

"As we continue to expand across Australia, we have seen that customers and driver-partners are choosing Ola over competitors for the best ride-share experience possible. By doing so, everyone is choosing an affordable and better way to move," Ola Vice President, Head of International, Chandra Nath said.

Ola's main competitor in the Australian market is Uber. Interestingly, SoftBank is also an investor in Uber.

Uber launched its operations in Australia in 2012 and operates in a number of cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra.

The companies are already locked in an intense battle for leadership in the Indian market.

They compete not only in the ride-sharing space in India but also food delivery, with Ola acquiring Foodpanda's India business. US-based Uber runs on-demand food delivery app UberEATs in select Indian cities.