Ola puts the breaks on international expansion

Ola has seemingly put the breaks on its international expansion, Business Standard reported citing two people in the know. The sources said the company has had further investments on hold in existing markets such as UK and Australia.

The ride-hailing platform was looking to expand to the Netherlands, Kenya, Dubai, Israel and Brazil. “It may still happen but things are very slow there now,” the source said about the Dubai operations.

However, Ola denied the report. “We are encouraged with the progress we are seeing in our global markets and continue to invest in these regions. In addition, we are constantly evaluating new opportunities and offerings across geographies as we build a sustainable business,” the company said in an email reply to the Business Standard.

Meanwhile, Ola is looking to raise USD 2 billion.

“It is looking difficult for Ola to do that,” said the source.

Ola is in a bit of a spot in India as the ride numbers drop and average ticket value climb.

“What Ola has also done is increase its commission to 30% in some cities,” Business Standard quoted a former Ola executive as saying. The move has resulted in an attrition of drivers from Ola’s platform.

Of late, Ola is also having a hard time keeping its talent after the Foodpanda fiasco.

Meanwhile, the ride-hailing market is showing signs of slowdown.

“The market is facing a saturation for point-to-point cab-hailing and over the last six months the growth of the industry has been in single digits,” Jaspal Singh, of Valoriser Consultants told Economic Times.

But Ola continues to keep a positive face. "While our core mobility categories continue to grow, we have further strengthened our offerings with deeper penetration of first and last mile categories like Ola Autos and Ola Bikes which are now present in over a 100 cities across the country,” an Ola spokesperson said in a statement.