Bangalore-based ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which operates homegrown cab aggregator Ola, has spun out a new entity that will train drivers, documents filed with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs show.
The entity—which is christened as Ola Skilling Pvt. Ltd—will be a wholly owned subsidiary of ANI Technologies. The new arm of Ola comes into existence pursuant to a board resolution which was passed in February this year.
Bhavish Aggarwal, co-founder and CEO of Ola; Pranay Jivrajka, founding partner at Ola and Shalabh Seth, CEO of Ola Fleet Technologies Pvt. Ltd—which is Ola’s cab leasing subsidiary—are the directors of Ola Skilling, which has been incorporated with a paid-up share capital of Rs 1 lakh. The entity will share ANI Technologies’ office space in Bangalore.
The firm will focus on the entire driver training value chain including creating training infrastructure, mobilising drivers and delivering training content and programmes.
Ola Skilling will also hold seminars, conferences and workshops to help trained drivers migrate to key cities besides partnering with peers in the training and skilling ecosystem to enhance drivers’ skills.
An email query sent to Ola did not elicit a response at the time of filing this report.
In October last year, Ola said it would train 50 lakh drivers on its platform by 2022. It also partnered with National Skill Development Council (NSDC) and launched a driver training centre at Chhapra, Bihar.
“The mobility sector in the country is seeing phenomenal growth and has the potential to empower aspiring individuals from all walks of life to become micro-entrepreneurs,” Aggarwal said then.
Subsequently, Ola formed a partnership with Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) in December to train 40,000 drivers over three years. According to a report by
The Economic Times, Maruti Suzuki also sold over 65,000 cars to Ola and its rival Uber in FY2016-17.
Ola has moved away from just being a taxi aggregator by creating its cab leasing arm Ola Fleet Technologies which maintains its own fleet, allowing it to reduce incentives for drivers.
In April this year, Ola also conducted awareness programmes for auto drivers in Bengaluru and Chennai and offered to onboard them as drivers on its platform. The firm offers autorickshaw services through its ‘Ola Auto’ option.
Last month, Ola signed a pact with Madhya Pradesh State Skill Development Mission and Directorate of Skill Development (Technical Education and Skill Development Department) to train 25,000 drivers in two years.
Besides, Ola has formed Ola Electric Mobility Pvt. Ltd as part of its plans to foray into the electric vehicle segment, The Hindu Business Line previously reported, citing filings with the Registrar of Companies.
Ola’s rival, San-Francisco-based Uber also entered into a tie-up with NSDC and Maruti Suzuki. As part of the pact, Uber will help train 10 lakh drivers by 2018.
