Online cab aggregator Ola has appointed Simon Smith as Managing Director for its operations in Australia, the company said in a release. In his new role, Smith will head and develop the leadership team, and will be responsible for building Ola’s presence in the country. In his previous roles, Smith has worked as the Chief Executive Officer of eBay Australia, and Non-Executive Director of Sportsbet, VP of Virtual Offices at Servcorp and as a consultant at McKinsey and Company. The move is seen as an effort to strengthen the homegrown company's presence In Australia, where it launched operations in January. Ola is currently available in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and the Gold Coast and shortly will launch in Adelaide. The company claims to have close to 40,000 driver-partners in the region. Apart from it's arch rival Uber, which has a strong presence in Australia with a fleet of around 82,000 active drivers, Ola will also have to compete with Europe-based Taxify and Chinese taxi company Didi. Driver-centric approach Smith, however, remains optimistic about the challenge. In an interview to Business News Australia, Smith claimed that Ola is a 'community-oriented transportation platform that's driver focused' and that could be a key factor in the company's fortunes down under. "We are finding Australian customers deeply care whether drivers are getting a fair deal and are choosing Ola because of that. Driver-partners are earning more through lower commissions and customers benefit from lower tariffs than other platforms," he explained to Business news Australia. Ola’s driver-partners are…
