UberPool, Ola Share ride sharing service launched in Delhi NCR region

Leading app based taxi service rivals, Uber and Ola have launched their social ride sharing service in Delhi-NCR. Ola's and Uber's ride sharing services are expected to reduce the surge pricing which has been plaguing the online cab services in Delhi for some time now.

Uber's ride sharing service is called UberPool, while Ola's is called Ola Share.With the ride sharing service, users in Delhi can now, share their ride and split the cost with another person who is requesting a ride along a similar route.

Using the uberPOOL services, riders can save about 10-30% of their ride charges (as compared with uberGO). The service will be available between 7am to 9am, seven days a week, but it can be requested only from select places in Delhi. Each request can have a maximum of 2 riders per pick up. You will be matched with another requester, for up to 4 riders in total.

How to use uberPOOL?

1. Slide over to the uberGO option on your app
2. Set your pickup location and drop-off locations and request
3. You’ll see 2 options – “Share your car” and “Get your own car”
4. “Share your car” is uberPOOL with a guaranteed fare upfront, so you know exactly what you’re going to pay
5. Request! You might get matched with another rider going the same way
6. Regardless of whether you’re matched or not, the fare will always be less than uberGO
7. Currently uberPOOL is available only between 7AM – 9PM, 7 days a week. You can choose to use Cash, PayTM, Airtel Money, Credit or even Debit card.

The Ola Share will be available to all users in Delhi over the coming weeks in a phased manner. It will be available in the Ola app as a separate category. With Ola share, customers stand to benefit from a flat 50 percent discount on Ola share fares. Ola Share offers users with an option to choose their fellow passenger, who plan to travel on the same route, with the help of the 'Social Groups' feature on its app, through which friends or colleagues from workplace can come together to share rides. A user can join multiple groups or simply choose to share a ride with anyone. A maximum of three people can share a cab together via Ola Share.

Note that, Ola Share and uberPool went live on the same day in Bengaluru as well in October. India based Ola and U.S based Uber have been competing with each other for sometime now to take the top spot. Ola recently joined forces with China's Didi Kuaidi, US based Lyft and Singapore's GrabTaxi to create a global ridesharing partnership to take on Uber, and together they will offer seamless coverage for travelers in India, China, Southeast Asia and the US.  It looks like the cab hailing market is getting heated up.