In the wake of the 2 day auto strike in Bangalore and Delhi, we decided to ply and at auto fares to top that. This wasn’t a very tough call to take against capitalizing on the occasion to rake in the moolah. We just did an internal check on what was our purpose of existence. It was loud and clear- solving the ground transportation problem. And such a day, was not the right day to capitalize. We were conscious about the fact that emergency needs in these two days would be hit- women, kids, senior citizens would face the brunt and we wanted to give it all we had, if possible more.
Feb 20 & 21, by all fair standards were two days of hyperactivity at Ola. Let’s list down for you, what what multiple teams were upto in these two days.
BD: Onroading 30% more cars by convincing operators about the cause and owning up the safety of cars and drivers.
PR, Liaison: Communicating to taxi unions from whom there was considerable pressure to withdraw the initiative and get off-road. Also, ensuring we had enough protection to face the heat, if any.
Technology: Ensuring that every system in these two days- across all modes of booking sees clockwork precision in billing and delivery.
Call Centre: Handling 5x, the normal load of calls reducing any possibility whatsoever, of even a 10 min break!
Operations: Ensuring that the cabs are optimized and continuously tracked so that you aren’t kept waiting for your cab. Also, successfully fulfilling 2x, the regular demand.
Marketing: Handling the fire on social- getting cab availability on twitter with #Olalive
HR & Admin: Being there round the clock to ensure that all we overnighters were taken care of right at our desks with food that din’t make noise while munching! 🙂
Goes without saying that our capacities are at the moment, way lower than what the public transport systems can accomodate but our very purpose of existence is to be the default mode of transport for you – reliable, easy and efficient. However, what went a little against us in this specific instance were cases where customers were holding back cabs longer than we expected them to ride given the lack of other available means of transport- which we obviously couldn’t deny.
What left us touched, moved and inspired was that, a good number of women and senior citizens used our cabs. We knew they’d need us the most today and were happy that our purpose was served. We are making good for every customer whom we were unable to serve in these two days in our own way. This way, we are still left content that we could do our bit to everyone who reached out to us.