Ola Officially Launches in Sydney, Australia

It was a while back that we'd told you about Indian cab aggregator Ola entering the Australian market and the company launched its services in Perth. Ola announced that is now officially operating in Sydney and has hired a local team to build partnerships and support driver-partners. Since its launch in Perth, the service has received a strong response from driver-partners with over 7,000 registrations. In the coming weeks, Ola will continue to roll out a number of new initiatives for both customers and driver-partners.

The company announced an introductory offer for free rides from today and said that rides could be booked to and from Sydney Airport, for drop off and pick up in the designated ridesharing area.

Chandra Nath, Vice President, Head of International, Ola said, "We are excited to officially start operating on the east coast with the launch in Sydney. We've been very pleased with how the service has been received by customers, driver-partners and the community in Perth, and can't wait to continue building on these experiences and learnings for our second city launch."

Ola's primary competitor in the Australian market would be US-based Uber. The companies are already locked in an intense battle for leadership in the Indian market. Uber launched its operations in Australia in 2012 and currently operates in 19 Australian cities including the major cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra.