You can now book Ola cab on IRCTC website and mobile app

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation on Monday launched a six-month pilot project with leading cab aggregator Ola, enabling commuters to book an Ola cab on IRCTC Rail Connect mobile application and website.

The Ola cab facility will provide all the services offered such as Ola Micro, Ola Mini, Ola Auto and Ola Share on the same price available directly on the IRCTC Rail Connect App and website, IRCTC said in a release.

Customers can choose to pre-book cabs up to seven days in advance or upon reaching the railway station.

In addition, IRCTC outlets at railway stations or Ola's self-serving kiosk will also enable commuters to book cabs, the release said. 
On Monday, many Ola drivers went on strike in Mumbai. The drivers' demands included getting their monthly earnings to Rs 1.25 lakh, erasing names of blacklisted drivers due to frivolous reasons, and the companies not being partial towards drivers who operate cabs owned by Uber and Ola.

In Mumbai, there are more than 45,000 aggregator cabs. Sources said that due to the slump in business, there has been a drop of 20 per cent in number of aggregator cabs on road. 

Earlier on Sunday, both Ola and Uber threatened to go on an indefinite strike starting Sunday midnight in major cities of the country including, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune among others. 

The drivers are also miffed at the state government’s announcement that Ola and Uber cabs should run on CNG.

"The banks which provided loans against these cabs have seized thousands of vehicles. The drivers are unable to repay loans and run their families even after driving for over 12 hours," said a driver who operates his vehicle for both Ola and Uber.

(With PTI inputs)