Airtel and Ola join hands to roll out integrated digital offerings for customers

In a first of its kind partnership, will leverage their ecosystems to build innovative solutions that enhance customer convenience and add to the service experience 

• Airtel Payments Bank to integrate with Ola app; Ola Money to integrate with Airtel digital properties to offer a wide range of convenient digital payment solutions to customers
• In an innovative collaboration, Airtel retail points to set up special mobility assistance zones to help customers make Ola bookings; Ola’s driver partners to assist Airtel customers recharge prepaid accounts
• Ola devices to be powered by Airtel 4G – India’s fastest mobile network – to enhance Ola’s mobility experience and benefit Ola’s driver partners
• Airtel’s suite of entertainment offerings on ‘Ola Play,’ world’s first connected car platform for ridesharing – by creating exclusive content for customers

Bangalore/New Delhi, 8th May 2017: Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), India’s largest telecommunications services provider, today announced a strategic partnership with Ola, India’s largest and most popular mobile app for transportation, to offer a range of exciting digital services to customers.

Airtel and Ola, two of India’s most prominent and trusted brands, will bring together their respective platforms and reach to co-create a comprehensive ecosystem to address India’s growing communication and mobility needs. In addition, Ola will leverage Airtel’s integrated suite of enterprise services to power its operations, while Airtel will leverage Ola’s vast network of hundreds and thousands of driver partners.

Innovative digital solutions for customers

Airtel and Ola will collaborate to deliver enhanced convenience for customers by leveraging the strengths of their respective portfolios.

Airtel Payments Banks, India’s first payment bank, will integrate with Ola app to offer convenient digital payments solutions to customers for their rides. Ola Money, one of India’s largest mobile wallets, will be integrated as a digital payment solution within MyAirtel App and the Airtel website to enable recharge of Airtel prepaid mobile/DTH and payment of Airtel mobile/broadband bills through Ola Money.

In a major innovation that will leverage Airtel’s vast retail network, Airtel retail points will assist customers looking to book an Ola ride through kiosks in these locations. Airtel will be able to leverage Ola’s massive base of driver partners, who will act as retail points for recharging Airtel prepaid numbers on the go.

Content partnership

The partnership will also have Airtel and Ola build content solutions for the customers of Ola Play. Airtel’s suite of entertainment offerings will be available on Ola Play, the world’s first connected car platform for ridesharing, in the form of exclusive content for Ola’s customers. Both partners will also work to offer a range of value added services from Airtel’s stable to Ola customers over time.

Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India & South Asia) Bharti Airtel said, “At Airtel, we are constantly innovating to build products and partnerships that accelerate the development of India’s digital ecosystem. We are delighted to partner Ola to enable a seamless digital experience for customers. Both companies have strengths that complement each other and this offers massive scope to co-create exciting products and solutions for customers. Ola will also benefit from Airtel’s extensive retail network and our integrated suite of world-class connectivity solutions for businesses that help them drive growth through better efficiency.”

Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO and Co-founder at Ola said, “At Ola, we are always focused on innovating and building on the mobility experience for customers as well as driver partners. This first-of-its-kind partnership brings a host of offerings from two massive ecosystems together. Airtel will integrate its offerings across payments, content, PoS networks, and more with Ola’s offerings for its large customer and partner base. We see this as a win-win for partners and customers of both brands, bringing increased convenience and access to mobility as well as connectivity at the same time.”

In addition, enabling seamless connectivity for Ola’s driver partners, Airtel will facilitate migration of the Ola devices to Airtel 4G network. Airtel has 4G services LIVE is all 22 telecom circles of India and has been rated as India’s fastest mobile network by global leaders like Ookla.

About Bharti Airtel:

Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 17 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company’s product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed home broadband, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 369 million customers across its operations at the end of February 2017. To know more please visit, www.airtel.com

About Ola:

Founded in Jan 2011 by IIT Bombay alumni Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Ola (formerly Olacabs), is India’s most popular mobile app for personal transportation. Ola integrates city transportation for customers and driver partners onto a mobile technology platform ensuring convenient, transparent and quick service fulfillment. Ola is committed to its mission of building mobility for a billion people. Using the Ola mobile app, users across 110 cities can book from over 600,000 vehicles across cabs, auto-rickshaws and taxis.  Ola has also introduced a range of shared mobility services on its platform like Ola Shuttle and Ola Share for commute and ride-sharing respectively. The app is available on Windows, Android and iOS platforms. Please visit www.olacabs.com/media for more information.

For media queries:

Ola – Varnika Gupta l media@olacabs.com

Airtel – Nipunta Khashu I nipunta.khashu@airtel.in, Deepti Thomas I deepti.thomas@airtel.in