Ola launches in Darwin, becoming third NT ridesharing service

INTERNATIONAL ridesharing platform Ola has launched in the NT, making it the third rideshare service now available in Darwin

Ola managing director, Simon Smith, chats to new rideshare driver, Scott Greene. Picture: Matt Thompson

ANOTHER ridesharing service has arrived in the NT, giving Territorians more choice when it comes to how they want to travel.

International ridesharing app Ola went live in Darwin today, meaning users can now book a lift with the service in an area spanning from the airport to Humpty Doo.

It makes Ola the third ridesharing service to become available in Darwin, after the launch of Hi Oscar in 2017 and Uber in 2018.

Ola Australia and New Zealand head of operations Wolf Aron said the company’s arrival brought more competition and more choice to the Darwin ridesharing market.

“Darwin’s got a great night-life, a lot of great hot spots, museums, art galleries,” he said.

“It’s a great place all around for tourism and gets lots of visitors, but there’s a huge local need as well and we expect there to be quite a bit of demand here.”

Local Ola driver Subho Da, who used to drive for Uber, said a lot of Darwin drivers were excited about Ola’s arrival.

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“They’re a fairer rideshare (service), so they’re going to charge less commission and give more earnings to the drivers, which is great way of increasing your earnings,” he said.

Darwin users will be able to get 30 per cent off all Ola rides for the next two weeks.

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