Ola shuts down TaxiForSure; 700 employees laid off

Ola has officially shut down operations of its TaxiForSure (TFS) business. Around 700 employees have reportedly been laid off in the process.

Ola had acquired TaxiForSure in March 2015 in a deal worth $200 million. This move was made to maintain market leadership against the fast growing rival - Uber. At the time of acquisition, Ola had made it clear that TFS would work as an independent entity. But eventually, the company started moving drivers from TFS to its own platform. This reduced traffic on TFS, thus resulting in the said shut down.

Ola claims that TFS has been integrated to the Ola platform with the launch of Ola Micro. This has thus made operating another platform redundant.

The company has not commented on the exact number of employees been affected by the transition. Though Ola has claimed that most of the employees have been absorbed within the Ola business, there are a few roles that ceased to exist after the transition. The company claims to be helping those employees offering enhanced severance benefits and outplacement services to pursue new career opportunities.

All this comes as an effort to reduce burn rate of operations of Ola in order to sustain the tough competition being given from Uber, which is the world's most valued start-up.

Source: Business Standard