Ola launches its carpooling service in Delhi the day after Uber
Just one day after Uber announced that it will roll out a carpooling service in Delhi, Ola has announced the forthcoming launch of “Ola Share”, a similar service for the same market. "Ola Share will allow citizens who travel on the same routes to share their rides with users from social groups they are part of, starting on Tuesday. This makes for economical fares and reduced congestion, since a ride can now be shared by up to three people at any point in time," Ola said in a press release. Ola added that it will offer a 50% discount on Ola Share fares over the coming month.

Taxi aggregator Ola announced Tuesday the launch of Ola Share, a social ride-sharing offering in the Delhi NCR region.

The Share feature will be made available in a phased manner to all users in Delhi over the coming week, the company said, with a flat 50 percent discount on fares in the launch phase to encourage users to share rides.

Ola Share feature was first rolled out as a beta in Bengaluru in October. The rollout was made in support of state's odd-even experiment, the company said in an emailed statement. All of Ola's safety features are available on Ola Share, and only CNG vehicles will be utilized for Ola Share bookings within Delhi, the company said.

"Ola is committed to building mobility for a billion Indians and with the launch of Ola Share in the national capital, we are taking a major step in that direction," said Ishan Gupta, Head - Ola Share.

For Delhi users, Ola Share will appear on the Ola app as a separate category. On sharing the drop location, the Ola app uses advanced algorithms to match users from common social groups, looking for a cab on the same route, in real time, the company said. When additional users en-route are identified, the driver's device gets an alert with navigation to their pickup location within minutes, to join the ride. Driver-partners get an increased revenue of up to 50 percent, the company claimed.

Uber had launched its carpooling feature in Bengaluru, India in September, and had announced its plans to roll out the initiative in Delhi a few days ago.