Cab aggregator Ola has started offering a luxury category of cars called Ola Lux starting with South Mumbai. This will include cars like Jaguar, Mercedes, Audi, BMW, Toyota Fortuner, Honda Accord and other high end sedans and SUVs, that can be booked for a minimum fare of Rs 200 plus Rs 19/km and Rs 2/minute. This is not the first time Ola has launched a luxury segment. The company had announced “Ola Luxury” in Bangalore in 2013 at the same price, and in 2014, it announced the expansion of this service to Mumbai with a fleet of Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Jaguar cars, priced at Rs 250, in addition to Rs 20/km and 2/minute. However, it’s not clear when this service was shuttered. Ola mentions that it will expand to other parts of Mumbai soon without giving a clear timeline. The service will sport standard features like WiFi, live tracking, payments using Ola Money etc. Interestingly, Ola’s move comes just 2 months after Uber shuttered its UberBlack service everywhere in India, except Mumbai. We have written to Ola asking which cities it plans to expand to next, and will update the story when we hear back. Comparison to Uber: Uber plied BLACK cars on a commission basis and charged Rs 200 as minimum fare, in addition to Rs 18/km and as such, Ola’s offerings are relatively more expensive. However, according to an Economic Times report, Uber had dropped its fleet of BMWs, Mercedes’ and Audis in 2014, instead adding Innovas…
