Indian ride-hailing company Ola is planning to enter Bangladesh market as part of an international expansion plan, says a report by NDTV’s Gadgets 360 citing undisclosed sources.
From Gadgets 360:
“The company (Ola), which leads rival Uber in India's ride-hailing market, has been looking at international markets for a while, and it has identified India's neighbours Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh as the first international countries where it will offer its services, a person familiar with the matter said. Rival Uber already operates in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.”
Although the report did not disclose any particular timing for the expansion, it says Ola recently began adding support for international phone numbers in its app suggesting the possibility of near future expansion. Teams within the company have also been looking into localization requirements including support for local SMS, currencies, and user interfaces for different markets, says the report.
Ola operates in 110 cities in India and is in a fierce rivalry with Uber India. Uber is available in 29 cities in India and expanding rapidly and operates in over 500 cities globally.
Dhaka’s ride-hailing space getting increasingly competitive. We have seen the recent rise of Pathao and launch of a few other bike-hailing services. Uber launched its operation in Dhaka in early last year and competes with a host of local players like Chalo.
