A month after starting its electric bike taxi service in Bengaluru, app-based mobility aggregator Ola is wooing e-bike riders by promising them earnings of up to Rs 70,000 per month.
Moneycontrol found that Ola is also renting out electric scooters (registration plates of two-wheelers have a green background with numbers and letters in yellow) for a security deposit of Rs 5,000 from those who want to enrol as e-bike taxi riders.
Ola’s aggressive push comes as it seeks to expand its e-bike service across Bengaluru city and get a head start over rivals including Uber in the face of opposition from autorickshaw drivers. While Karnataka was the first state in the country to introduce an e-bike taxi policy, other states are following suit as they seek to shift away from polluting fuels.
Ola, founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati in December 2010, announced the relaunch of its e-bike taxi services on September 16, exclusively operating Ola Electric's S1 scooters in Bengaluru, with rates fixed at Rs 25 for a ride of up to 5 km and Rs 50 for rides of 5 km to 10 km.
Also read: Ola restarts bike taxi operation in Bengaluru, goes all electric
Rental offer
While Ola e-bike taxi services were unavailable in many areas of Bengaluru earlier, the company is now expanding its presence across the city. It is recruiting an increasing number of e-bike taxi riders, luring them with attractive offers and schemes.
A pamphlet distributed at an onboarding centre in HSR Layout 5th Sector claims that riders can “earn more than Rs 70,000/month with Ola bike taxi." The pamphlet mentions that the Ola S1 Air – the electric scooter made by the company – can be rented with a Rs 5,000 security deposit.
Applicants need to provide documents such as a PAN card, Aadhaar, and bank details and must have a valid driver’s licence. Many young individuals had queued up at the enrolment centre to join as e-bike taxi riders.
The charges for renting an e-bike are based on the number of bookings made: for fewer than 10 bookings/rides, it's Rs 300 per day; for 10-14 bookings, it's Rs 100, and for 15-19 bookings, it's Rs 50. There are no rental charges for those with 20 or more bookings.
Additionally, the company has set earnings/incentives based on the number of bookings/trips: no incentives for less than 10 bookings; Rs 800 for 10-14 bookings; Rs 1,300 for 15-19 bookings; Rs 1,800 for 20-24 bookings; Rs 2,300 for 25-29 bookings, and Rs 2,800 for 30 or more bookings.
Mixed response
Moneycontrol reporters took multiple e-bike taxi trips on October 19 to understand how the system works. In one instance, when booking an e-bike through the Ola app for a 5.3 km trip from Koramangala 8th Block to HSR Layout, the rider arrived on a petrol bike instead of an Ola electric bike.
“Once I fully charge the e-scooter (Ola S1), it will run for 70-75 km. The average trip distance is 8 km, so I need to complete 10 rides to get an incentive of Rs 800,” he explained. “The battery depletes after seven or eight trips and it takes 6.5 hours for the bike to fully recharge. That's why I use my petrol bike for the remaining trips.”
Another rider who uses an electric scooter took a 1.8 km ride from Vidhana Soudha to Infantry Road and charged Rs 27. He said it was his first day on the job and by 3:30 pm, the scooter had 34 percent charge remaining. He said he was satisfied with the electric scooter, especially since it saves fuel costs and makes for easy maintenance at Ola service centres.
Asked about how battery issues are handled, one rider explained that Ola has set up fast-charging stations at various locations, which are free to use.
“I charge my scooter overnight at home but in emergencies, I can use the fast-charging stations, which take only an hour. Compared to my previous food delivery job, for which I had to carry heavy bags, this job has less hassles,” the rider said.
No licence
Even as riders come on board Ola’s e-bike taxi service, the company faces other hurdles. The Karnataka transport department has not issued licences to companies including Ola, Uber, and Rapido to operate e-bike taxis. At present, neither Uber nor Rapido operates electric bike taxis.
Karnataka was the first state in the country to implement an electric bike taxi policy in July 2021, permitting e-bike taxis for trips of up to 10 km only, with two flat fares for distances up to 5 km and 5 km to 10 km.
Also read: Why Karnataka's electric bike taxi policy failed to take off
The policy was primarily aimed at enhancing first- and last-mile connectivity, particularly for metro, bus, and railway passengers, while also creating employment opportunities and curbing the inconvenience caused by autorickshaw drivers who often refused trips or demanded excessive fares.
In December 2022, the Karnataka transport department granted the first e-bike taxi licence to the two-wheeler rental company Bounce. However, Bounce has yet to start services and has instead shifted focus to the production of electric scooters.
“Ola applied for a bike taxi licence, but they are yet to provide the 100 vehicles as required by the rules," said L Hemanth Kumar, additional commissioner for transport.
While Ola may be operating without a licence in hand, the Karnataka High Court, while hearing a case on the bike-taxi ban, directed the state government to not take any coercive action against Ola, Uber and Rapido bike taxis until it framed a set of regulations specific to them.
Autorickshaw drivers
Ola is yet to respond to an email from Moneycontrol seeking comment on its e-bike taxi service, including the number of e-bikes it operates and its expansion plans.
Another Bengaluru-based mobility startup, MetroRide, also sought an e-bike taxi licence last year but has not received it yet. Kumar said MetroRide planned to operate fewer than 100 electric bike taxis and had applied in the Jayanagar RTO.
However, autorickshaw drivers have expressed dissatisfaction with bike taxi services and want the state government to withdraw the policy.
“We are opposing both petrol and electric bike taxis,” Raghu Narayana Gowda of Peace Auto said. “In Bengaluru, 50-60 per cent of the passengers are single customers and they are now switching to bike taxis because they are more cost-effective and faster."
Gowda suggested that increasing the number of auto permits would lead to more discipline among auto drivers and reduce ride refusals. There are 3.12 lakh auto rickshaws in Bengaluru which has a population of around 1.6 crore.
Competitive market
Although Ola may have got a head start in the electric vehicle mobility segment, rival Uber is in the process of launching such services. While the company has rolled out electric bikes in Indonesia and some countries in Africa, experts said Uber’s e-bikes will be launched in India soon.
“Going green and going electric is the agenda for every ride-hailing company now. The pressure is already on for several delivery companies and soon a stringent notification may come in for ride-hailing firms as well,” an industry expert told Moneycontrol.
A policy calling for all mobility aggregators and delivery service providers to switch to electric vehicles has already been approved in the national capital. The Delhi Motor Vehicle Aggregator and Delivery Service Provider Scheme legalises bike taxis and outlines comprehensive regulation and licensing of app-based aggregators and delivery service providers.
Under this scheme, bike taxi aggregators will be allowed to function in Delhi provided they are electrically operated. It also states that the entire vehicle fleet of aggregators, delivery service providers and e-commerce entities in Delhi needs to shift to electric by 2030.
“The stringent compliance measures will not only encourage electric vehicle adoption but also set a benchmark for others to follow,” said Tushar Choudhary, founder of EV maker Motovolt Mobility.
Amid this transition and the competition, Ola still has one major advantage: its own electric vehicle manufacturing unit. Ola Electric makes electric scooters and plans to build what it calls India’s sportiest electric car.
“Right now, there’s a lot of consumer adoption happening. India’s charging infra is also getting bolstered. Even though it will be a slow process, other players will push their bike taxi captains to shift to EVs with lucrative offers and loans,” the expert added.
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