Ola shuts down TaxiForSure business; lays off 700 employees
India’s largest taxi aggregator, Ola, has shut down its TaxiForSure (TFS) business and has laid off 700 employees in the process, as it looks to consolidate its presence and reduce cash burn to fend off an attack from Uber.
Ola had acquired smaller rival TFS in March 2015 for $200 million to help it maintain market leadership against Uber. While Ola had said it would maintain TaxiForSure as an independent entity, the company soon began moving drivers from TFS to its own platform.
The Economic Times newspaper first reported this story on Wednesday. Ola declined to comment on the story.
While the TFS Android app was still functional, apart from the Ola Micro category, which the company cross-sells, no cabs were available in the Nano, Hatchback and Sedan categories. Since the acquisition, Ola has been pursuing drivers on TFS to join its own platform.
Apart from cross-selling cabs on both platforms, Ola did not go in for larger integration of the two services, picking its own technology as the successor. With the lack of any sort of autonomy, TFS saw a slew of senior level exits, including that of CEO Arvind Singhal. (More)
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