Ola expands social ride-sharing to Pune, Hyderabad

Taxi aggregator Ola today expanded its ride-sharing platform 'Share' to Pune and Hyderabad, taking the service to seven cities in the country.

The feature allows users to share rides, making their travel cheaper by up to 50%. Ola Share was previously available in Bengaluru, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

"Ola Share is designed to help users to ride together within the comfort of their social groups, also contributing to reduced pollution and congestion in their city. Fares for customers are substantially lower, since a ride can now be shared by up to three people at any point in time," Ola said in a statement.

Also, all of Ola's security features are available for users on Ola Share, it added.

Most vehicles see only 33% utilisation of capacities. "Customers can choose to share rides with members of social groups they are part of, without having to share their ride with strangers. It makes for economical fares, allowing customers to save up to 50% on the trip cost," it said.

Recently, Delhi government had conducted an odd-even experiment, allowing either number cars to ply on alternate days, in a bid to reduce pollution. This resulted in a surge in carpooling trends as people formed groups to travel to abide by the regulation.

"Shared mobility is the future of transportation in India. With Ola Share, we are addressing the need for reliable and affordable mobility, at scale," Ola Category Head (Shared Mobility) Ishan Gupta said.