Ola Reinforces Its Commitment to Creating Safer Roads, Launches #PeekeMatChala to Tackle Drunk Driving Across the Country

This festive season, Ola is joining forces with local authorities across key cities to discourage driving under the influence of alcohol
Partnerships with bars and pubs across the country urging patrons to look for alternatives to drinking and driving

Bangalore, December 28, 2017: Ola, India’s most popular mobile app for transportation, is extending its commitment to combat drunk driving this festive season through its national campaign – #PeekeMatChala. First launched on Christmas last year, this year’s edition of the annual awareness and activation drive will see amplified activities such as collaborations with local authorities in key cities, partnerships with bars and pubs across the country, setting up special Ola kiosks on new year’s eve to facilitate bookings, sharing of responsible drinking tips with consumers, and engaging videos on social media, urging everyone to abstain from drinking and driving.

To address the issue of drunk driving on-ground, Ola this year has tied up with various Cities & State Governments across the country. Ola is the exclusive mobility partner for Government of Telangana’s Mission Smart Rides (MSR) program. The collaboration involves API integration of the Ola app with MSR’s Smart Waiter app, allowing bartenders and pub representatives in 542 pubs and restaurants across Hyderabad to book an Ola ride directly through the Smart Waiter app, as well as provide for free and discounted rides for inebriated commuters. Similarly, Ola has also partnered with Gurgaon Traffic police, promoting the message of #PeeKeMatChala in the city. The collaboration includes dedicated lanes for Ola cabs parked around key drinking places and temporary Ola kiosks to help people book cabs on New Year’s Eve. Besides, on-ground partnerships, Ola has also tied up with leading bars and pubs across the country to encourage party-goers to plan their travel in advance and ensure they don’t drink and drive.

The campaign #PeeKeMatChala is also extensively being promoted on social media. A special prank video promoting responsible drinking, shot in slightly more fun approach to drive home the message of not drinking and driving has been released. The video makes for a very interesting content where people are put in uncomfortable situations and then the tables turn to reveal the key message. In addition, Ola also worked with All India Bakchod (AIB) to release a quirky video to promote the message of #PeekeMatChala. This AIB video shows the year 2017 in rewind with the message of #PeekeMatChala. The video was launched on Christmas Day this year and has garnered over 1 million views so far.

Commenting on the #PeekeMatChala campaign, Mudit Shekhawat, Senior Director – Marketing, at Ola said, “We had launched #PeekeMatChala last year and are excited to further extend it this year through various collaborations with local administration in key cities and partnerships with key bars and pubs across India. We are delighted to partner with Gurgaon Traffic Police and the Telangana Government and firmly believe that such initiatives will help in ensuring people don’t drink and drive. We are utilizing every avenue possible to connect with our audience; from promoting the message of responsible drinking to partnering with AIB again this year to spread our message to a wider audience.”

According to the latest data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB),drunk driving accounts to just 1.5% of all road accidents in the country. However, accidents due to drunk driving have the highest fatality rate among all accidents with 42% of drunk driving victims not surviving in the year 2015.

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 visitwww.olacabs.com/media for more information.

For additional details, please contact:

Amit.Nanchahal – 8130463737 | media@olacabs.com