Ola and Grow-Trees launch a First-of-its-Kind Initiative in Mumbai to Drive Awareness on Shared Mobility

Grow – Trees to plant tree sapling across Mumbai for commuters taking ‘Ola Share’ rides
Ola Share commuters to get e-certificates and a code, enabling them to monitor the growth of trees planted on their behalf
The partnership lays emphasis on responsible and inclusive commuting by reducing carbon footprint as part of Ola’s national campaign #FarakPadtaHai

Mumbai, January 22, 2018: Ola, India’s most popular mobility platform, has partnered with Mumbai based Grow-Trees, a social enterprise that provides a unique greet-with-trees service, to launch a week-long tree plantation drive in Mumbai, starting from today. The partnership aims to plant tree saplings for Ola Share rides taken by commuters, reinforcing Ola’s messaging around its national campaign #FarakPadtaHai that aims at reducing traffic, carbon footprint, and resulting pollution, through the adoption of shared mobility in the city.

With a view to sensitize commuters about the effects of air pollution while creating an inclusive and sustainable ecosystem, through this partnership Ola aims to empower communities by planting tree saplings on their behalf in Mumbai city. To further motivate customers, Ola plans to provide every Ola Share commuter taking five or more rides with a code ‘GROWTREE’. In-addition, the same Ola Share commuter also gets an e-certificate which acknowledges their contribution to the environment by way of planting a tree sapling on their behalf. The e-certificate with the unique code will also enable the Ola Share customer to access grow-trees.com, see the picture of the planted sapling, and also track its growth.

Commenting on the initiative Mr Shekhar Datta, City Head Mumbai Ola, said, “At Ola, we acknowledge that businesses have a key role to play in combating pollution, congestion and improving the green cover in Mumbai. Our campaign #FarakPadtaHai is a step in this direction where any form of shared mobility;bus, local trains, and / or Ola Share can positively impact the environment by reducing traffic and helping to safeguard the local ecology. Taking our program a step further, our initiative with Grow-Trees has been rolled out to encourage a low carbon culture. The initiative has been designed to also empower commuters to do what they can to make a difference to the environment. While everyone wants to plant a tree, many of us are unable to do so because of the lack of opportunity and time. Our latest initiative has been rolled out to take care of such practical issues.”

Mr Pradip Shan, Founder Grow-Trees said, “For several years now, pollution and climate change have been a concern in India. Progressive penetration of citizen-inclusive initiatives such as these, further encourage citizens to emulate a low carbon culture. We are happy to partner with Ola in creating this movement towards a sustainable, pollution-free, and green tomorrow.”

Ola’s integrated #FarakPadtaHai programme was nationally rolled on 5th June, 2017 on World Environment Day. The program has received tremendous traction on ground from commuters. The program encourages people to switch to shared mobility and do their share in reducing vehicular pollution and traffic congestion levels in their cities.

Since its inception, Ola Share has effectively reduced 12 million kilograms of carbon dioxide and saved over 7 million liters of fuel while reducing the distance travelled by cabs by 84 million kilometers.

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 800,000 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:

Amit Nanchahal | M: 8130463737 | E: media@olacabs.com