A popular ride-share app could be about to stop operating its services in Perth, with customers and drivers claiming they received emails notifying them of the sudden cancellation.
Ola Rideshare customers received an email on Monday, which has been seen by this masthead, claiming the company’s operations would stop on April 12.
Ola Rideshare will no longer ruin in Perth, customers and drivers say.
“This means that you will no longer be able to book any rides through your Ola app from that date,” the email read.
“You must not take any rides with any vehicle purporting to be an Ola vehicle or Ola driver from 12th April 2024. Ola has not authorised any driver or any other party to use the Ola brand or provide rides on Ola’s behalf.”
Ola customers in Auckland also received a similar email.
Speaking on Radio 6PR, Ola driver Chris said over the past six months the number of people in Perth using the app had been dwindling.
“Customers weren’t using it all. Ola stopped advertising and putting up promotions for their riders, so the support started to disappear pretty quickly,” he said.
“I contacted Ola over a week-and-a-half ago and their response was yes, we’re not going to support Western Australia any more.
“I said, is that going to change? And they said, ‘We have no idea’. So it’s a complete turnaround. They just don’t care about Western Australia any more.”
Chris said he was also a taxi driver, and that while cab drivers were not allowed to also be rideshare drivers, Ola had a deal in place which meant he had been allowed to do both.
“It was a way of just trying to get a little bit more work, but it was a complete waste of time, their app never really worked properly,” he said.
“The other rideshare apps actually send you notification saying that there’s a customer. If you weren’t actually on the Ola page, you wouldn’t even know there was a customer waiting for you.”
Ola has been contacted for comment. The ride-share company is yet to confirm its closure in WA.
Ola is one of the world’s largest ridesharing companies, active in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and India.
In Australia, Ola is available to riders in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth.
It first launched in Perth in February 2018. At the time Ola International Vice President Chandra Nath said the company had been “really pleased with the response and feedback we’re receiving from customers, drivers and the community.”