Jaipuria Institute of Management, Jaipur

Course: DESIGN THINKING

Term: II Term (Year: 2020-21)
Section: C
PROJECT REPORT
Name of Company: OLA CABS
Submitted By: GROUP III
Roll No. Name

PGFC2001 Abhinav Maheshawri

PGFC2002 Abhishree Jain
PGFC2020 Hrithik Sood
PGFC2031 Neelam Bang
PGFC2032 Neha Shekhawat
PGFC2038 Prateek Nandwana
PGFC2039 Preyanshi Garg
PGFC2042 Rishika Goyal
PGFC2045 Sakshi Agarwal
PGFC2048 Shijin Shaji

Submitted to: Mr. Akhilesh Trivedi

Date: 22/01/21
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to earnestly acknowledge the sincere efforts and

valuable time given by our respected faculty (Mr. Akhilesh Trivedi)
for completion of our project by solving our problems and guiding us
throughout. We would also like to thank each and every member of
the group, it was not possible without their support and research. Last
but not the least we are grateful for the knowledge which we received
while making the project report.

Thank You
Group III
 Introduction
It is a dream of the people to have their own car so that they can roam around in
it. But not everyone can afford this dream but with the help of two men Bhavish
Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati this dream became possible for many. These two
men came up with the Ola cabs start-up on 3 October, 2010 as an online cab
aggregator in Mumbai who gave befitting reply to surged taxi prices and
relaxation from public transport crowd to many. The headquarter is based in
Bengaluru. It is India’s largest mobility platform which is currently serving in
250+ cities across India, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The
ola cabs provide pick-up and drop service at your doorsteps and not only this, it
provides you the facilities like ride sharing, rental car service for longer routes,
food delivery.
The idea to start this company came through a real-life incident faced by one of
the co-founders of the company. It is an incident that happened to an IIT
Bombay graduate, Bhavish Aggarwal in 2008 who also worked for Microsoft
for 2 years. So, the man was going from Bangaluru to Bandipore by private taxi.
On the way, the driver stopped the car and asked for more fare but after the
denial he took off Bhavish from the taxi and went off. This incident brought the
idea of Ola to his mind. And after that Bhavish along with his friend started
working on the project with the help of tremendous technology. But they didn’t
get support from their families but the project was backed by the founder of
Snapdeal and he provided funds to them.
Ola cabs, in the beginning, started with the zero model in which the company
used third party cars due to shortage of funds. Afterwards, they came up with
mobile app wherein one can book the cab and the fare would be flashed there
only for the same. And slowly the cab has become our go to assistance. The
company’s net value is at around US$360 million.
Target Audience
The target audience is the middle class and the upper middleclass society as
cabs are accessed mostly by this section of the society. The OLA cabs claim to
target tier 1 and tier2 resident, employee, students, visitors whosoever like to
travel in profession, who is valued with some goal and want to avail the safe
transport service.

Key Problem areas of OLA Cabs

 Cancellation of ride without notice
 Behavioral issues
 How to retrieve lost articles
 Surge Pricing
 Asking of Directions
 Taking long time to arrive
 Dropping at wrong locations
 Safety of women

Problems OLA cabs were about to address

1. Cancellation of rides
As per the Survey done by the Financial express, there has been complaints
regarding this issue almost faced everyday by the passengers. In case any
commuter is in emergency, it left him in a profound state of grief and
disappointment when the driver calls off the ride without even informing any
valid reason. They willingly want to ask the passenger to reveal their destination
to meet their suitability of cancelling the particular ride. This waste time and
energy of the customer who expects a fast and a safe transport ride.
 2. Behavioral issues
Sometimes it becomes really risky as when drivers are drunk or sleepy for
pickup, many times drivers become too frank and start conversing with you
which makes you bit uncomfortable. And all you can do is report as there is no
medium of communication between. You have to file a complaint regarding the
behavior of the driver which is again a time-consuming process.

3. How to retrieve lost articles

It often happens that few passengers carry multiple bags and forget them in the
cab. In this situation, there is no central customer care number for
communication can be done to resolve this particular situation. And customer
can get back their lost articles.

4. Surge Pricing
One of the great problems faced by passengers is the surge pricing especially
during peak hours. It just takes little to inflate the price. In case of any
emergency like office meetings, exams, medical emergency, etc. Passengers are
dissatisfied and have this complaint.

Above shown are the problem OLA cabs were about to address and there are
some solutions to the problems found:
1. Cancellation of rides
As we all might have faced this situation from OLA cabs, we would like
to imprint some solutions to solve this problem which would be that is
any driver would cancel ride without even informing driver will have to
pay compensation or penalties to the aggregator, either the driver
wouldn’t be continuing from the service if they did the same for
continuous 3rd time.
 2. Behavioral issues
For every journey before continuing with ride they will get their alcohol
test with the meter they will be carrying, and if they are found drunk
driving their license to be a cab driver would be cancelled.
3. Solutions for Surge Pricing
The problem of price surge can be solved by fixing a upper limit on the
hike in prices during peak hours, weddings, festivals etc. For example:
The prices should be increased from Rs.6/KM to Rs.9/KM, Rs.9 being
the upper limit based on the area in which the customer is travelling.
Another solution to the problem can be hiring drivers on monthly
registration basis during festivals & weddings season.
Both the solutions if implemented together will be economically feasible
in the long run.
4. Solutions for Women Safety
The safety of women in Ola cabs can be increased by adding a new
category of Ola women to the already existing categories of mini, prime,
sedan. These Ola women cabs will be operated by female chauffeurs
which will make the women commuters feel safe even when travelling at
late or early hours of the day. This option is economically feasible as Ola
would be adding more drivers to its roster and its business will improve.
(Obviously female chauffeurs should be hired in the same wage policies
as their male counterparts).
STEPS IN DESIGN THINKING

1) Empathy
Our society is seeing a change. A change which was much needed. From a
male oriented society to a society where both the genders are finally getting
an equitable ground to stand at. But are we ready to accept the same
changes?
 It has been found in a survey done in 2019 by Neta app that 42% of women
feel unsafe in their surroundings. In any case if a female needs to travel
alone at night there is no mode she can travel from and at the same time feel
safe about it. Be it in the city or out of station. Other problems which people
face are that their rides are cancelled without prior information from driver
and they keep waiting for their cabs. Sometimes even the drivers do not
behave properly sometimes even because of them being under alcoholic
influence. Surge prices are the biggest problems faced by people in cities
with higher population.

2) Define
With the advent of technology we are blessed with the convince of finding a
ride at just a click of button. In the wake of incidents of misbehaviour
towards women passengers. It is more difficult nowadays for women to feel
safe when travelling at late or early hours of the day.

3) Ideate
As we have discussed above that because of the increasing incidents of cab
drivers misbehaving, verbally or physically with women passengers have
now raised questions on women's safety. So now the safety of women
passengers in ola cabs can be increased by adding new division of old
women cabs with the existing categories. Now the question is that what's
something unique in women cabs. So, these women cabs will be operated by
female chauffeurs which will make the women passengers feel safe while
travelling at late nights.

4) Prototype
a. Ola women being a new category added to the company’s product. This
will be cost effective as the with appointment of women drivers it will result
 in not just increase in sale of the company but with their appointment
females will be likely to travel with female drivers can company can
downsize the no of male drivers.
b. Strict rules are to be made for ride cancellations. Drivers may need to pay
penalty for the same. In case of 3 consecutive cancellations, he may even
lose his job.
c. An upper limit may be set by the company in order to take customers in
confidence and build a customer loyalty in the market.
5) Test

Conclusive approach

As per our discussion, we analysed many flaws in the functioning of the

company and we found out many feasible solutions that could benefit the
company.
Following are the points which we have discussed to come to a conclusion note:
-
 As design thinkers, we would like the company to develop its strategy for
situations like the recent corona pandemic where customers are afraid to step
out of their houses. As OLA is a company that is into the transportation
business, it has to ensure the safety of its customers during the current
situation. As per observations, we can see that currently, the company is not
able to control at the ground level. The company should provide proper
safety measures to the cabs and bikes so that they can ensure customer’s as
well as driver’s safety. This step of ensuring the safety of customers can
eventually increase the company’s brand will in the market.
 As per observations, the company is facing the main issue of cancellation of
rides. As per our discussion, the best solution for this problem is by charging
penalties from the drivers who cancel the rides and take money directly from
 the customers. This behaviour by the drivers leaves a negative impression on
the company so it is necessary that the company regulate the drivers who are
under them. And if any driver continuously practices this more than 3 times,
then the company must permanently eliminate it's dealing with these kinds
of drivers.
 The above-mentioned solution is much needed for the functioning of the
company as it is depleting the company’s image in the market. This solution
is technically feasible as the company has the proper mechanism to trace the
drivers, they can analyse the behaviour of the drivers and can also keep an
eye on the drivers who cancel rides without any proper explanation. This
solution is also economically feasible as there won’t be any type of further
expense required as the company already have the proper resources to
implement it. This solution is much required as it is possible to practically
implement it and it is feasible for the company as it will eventually benefit it.
 The reason for choosing this solution is that at the ground level company is
facing this issue for quite a long time. Drivers are misusing their rights.
Many of them first cancel the ride after reaching the destination and then
they cancel the ride and take money directly from the customer. This type of
behaviour by the drivers leaves a negative impression on the customers. If
these kinds of defaulters are handled properly, then the company will be able
to maintain its reputation in the market. If the company deals with this in an
appropriate manner, it will eventually help the company to build its
reputation in the market and gain customers which will result in higher
profits for the company. If OLA applies this solution, then surely it will get a
competitive advantage over its competitors like Uber in the local market.