Ola ropes in SAB Miller's Shalabh Seth to head its leasing unit

He'll look at growing supply of cars and also bring more drivers into Ola's fold

India's largest taxi hailing service Ola has roped in Shalabh Seth, former managing director of SAB Miller India, to head its car leasing unit as it looks to increase the number of vehicles on its platform.

Seth has been tasked with growing supply on Ola's ride hailing platform through leasing of cars and other initiatives that will bring more drivers into its fold. In a supply constrained market, the company has been forced to lease vehicles to drivers and lock them in its network utilising its own balance sheet as it scrambles to stay ahead of Uber.

"I'm very excited about Shalabh joining us to lead the leasing business, which is a key strategic priority for us. Ola was one of the first companies in the ridesharing space globally to attempt an innovative model like this and I personally believe that tremendous value for the ecosystem can be made possible with an innovative approach to supply," said Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Ola.

Seth has expertise in running SAB Miller's operations in North India; logistics and supply chain that ensured cold beer is delivered in remote corners of India, besides focus on P&L as the head of the beer maker in the country.

Both Ola and Uber are using their leasing arms to lock in drivers on their platform, by offering discounts for cars, payment of instalments daily and preferential access to customers when they book on their respective apps. This also would help them to increase supply of cabs and consequently getting more users to book them on their platform.

Rival Uber too is looking at leasing cars to drivers as a quick way to grow its fleet in India. The company invested close to Rs 250 crore in two tranches in Xchange Leasing last year. Launched in July 2015 in the US, Xchange is a leasing option administered by a subsidiary of Uber which has an office in Mumbai.

Like its ride hailing business, Ola has modelled its leasing arm around Xchange, where drivers can pay daily/monthly installments for leasing a car from the company and will even be given the option to buy out the vehicle entirely. Ola claims it has already leased thousands of cars, adding to the 500,000 cabs, auto rickshaws and black and yellow taxis on its platform.