London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Nov 25, 2025

SoftBank-backed taxi app Ola launches in London, looking to topple Uber as No. 1 player

Ola rolls out its taxi-booking service in London on Monday, as Uber faces the threat of being banned. The India-based firm says it wants to be the “market leader” in the U.K. capital. The company claims its focus on safety differentiates it from other players.

Indian ride-hailing app Ola has launched in London, where Uber faces the threat of being banned, as it aims to topple the Silicon Valley giant as market leader in the U.K. capital.

The company, which shares tech investing juggernaut SoftBank as an investor with Uber, rolls out its taxi-booking service in the city on Monday. The firm’s app is similar in many ways to Uber’s but has a few safety-focused features it says make it stand out.

For instance, when a passenger gets into a car, they have to input a unique four-digit code before the driver can start the trip. It also comes packed with an artificial intelligence-powered system called Guardian, which picks up on deviations in route patterns and gets Ola to check with the driver or customer that “nothing untoward” is happening.

“We aspire to be the market leader in London,” Simon Smith, Ola’s head of international, told CNBC in an interview. “We believe that, with our proposition around quality and safety, offering a great experience not only for customers but drivers as well, there is no reason why we can’t be market leader in this market.”

The firm has already registered over 25,000 drivers in London, just over half of Uber’s 45,000 in the city. It’s also partnered with the training unit of U.K. motoring association AA, education firm Pearson and consulting giant Mercer to test its drivers on risk assessment, English speaking and customer service.

Ola’s arrival in London comes as its key rival, Uber, fights for survival in the city. Local regulator Transport for London (TfL) decided not to renew Uber’s license to operate in November, citing a “pattern of failures” that put the safety of its passengers at risk. For now, the company can continuing operating in London as it appeals the decision.

According to TfL, drivers were able to game Uber’s system to pick up passengers without being authorized. It says they were able to do this by uploading their photos to another driver’s account. This happened in at least 14,000 trips and some of the drivers were unlicensed, TfL said.

Asked whether Ola’s system could be similarly exploited, Smith said he’s “confident there won’t be an issue,” but if there is, it’ll contact the regulators to “explain what’s happened and what our plan is to rectify it.” Its app also has an emergency tool that can be selected to alert Ola, a customer’s relatives and the emergency services.

To incentivize drivers to use its platform initially, Ola isn’t taking commission off them for the first six weeks of its launch. After that, the firm will take an 18% cut of all rides, less than Uber’s 25% commission rate. Meanwhile, passengers will be given up to £25 in ride vouchers if they sign up in the first week after launch.

London is awash with ride-hailing operators already, with Estonia’s Bolt and France’s Kapten also looking to chip away at Uber’s dominance. The rise of Uber and the new entrants has put pressure on London’s iconic black cabs, as they often charge much cheaper fares.

While such ride-sharing services have proven popular, investors have been concerned about whether such businesses can become profitable. Uber and Lyft’s share prices are both down since they listed last year, due to concerns over their huge losses, though Uber insists it can reach profitability by the end of the year.

Ola says it has a better shot at reaching profitability than its competitors, as it’s already reached positive earnings in its home market of India. London isn’t the firm’s first U.K. market, and Smith said that, over the last three months, it’s seen 60% growth in bookings in Birmingham, while bookings have doubled in Exeter and Reading.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Economy Stalls as Reeves Faces First Budget Test
UK Economy’s Weak Start Adds Pressure on Prime Minister Starmer
UK Government Acknowledges Billionaire Exodus Amid Tax Rise Concerns
UK Budget 2025: Markets Brace as Chancellor Faces Fiscal Tightrope
UK Unveils Strategic Plan to Secure Critical Mineral Supply Chains
UK Taskforce Calls for Radical Reset of Nuclear Regulation to Cut Costs and Accelerate Build
UK Government Launches Consultation on Major Overhaul of Settlement Rules
Google Struggles to Meet AI Demand as Infrastructure, Energy and Supply-Chain Gaps Deepen
Car Parts Leader Warns Europe Faces Heavy Job Losses in ‘Darwinian’ Auto Shake-Out
Arsenal Move Six Points Clear After Eze’s Historic Hat-Trick in Derby Rout
Wealthy New Yorkers Weigh Second Homes as the ‘Mamdani Effect’ Ripples Through Luxury Markets
Families Accuse OpenAI of Enabling ‘AI-Driven Delusions’ After Multiple Suicides
UK Unveils Critical-Minerals Strategy to Break China Supply-Chain Grip
Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” Extends U.K. No. 1 Run to Five Weeks
UK VPN Sign-Ups Surge by Over 1,400 % as Age-Verification Law Takes Effect
Former MEP Nathan Gill Jailed for Over Ten Years After Taking Pro-Russia Bribes
Majority of UK Entrepreneurs Regard Government as ‘Anti-Business’, Survey Shows
UK’s Starmer and US President Trump Align as Geneva Talks Probe Ukraine Peace Plan
UK Prime Minister Signals Former Prince Andrew Should Testify to US Epstein Inquiry
Royal Navy Deploys HMS Severn to Shadow Russian Corvette and Tanker Off UK Coast
China’s Wedding Boom: Nightclubs, Mountains and a Demographic Reset
Fugees Founding Member Pras Michel Sentenced to 14 Years in High-Profile US Foreign Influence Case
WhatsApp’s Unexpected Rise Reshapes American Messaging Habits
United States: Judge Dressed Up as Elvis During Hearings – and Was Forced to Resign
Johnson Blasts ‘Incoherent’ Covid Inquiry Findings Amid Report’s Harsh Critique of His Government
Lord Rothermere Secures £500 Million Deal to Acquire Telegraph Titles
Maduro Tightens Security Measures as U.S. Strike Threat Intensifies
U.S. Envoys Deliver Ultimatum to Ukraine: Sign Peace Deal by Thursday or Risk Losing American Support
Zelenskyy Signals Progress Toward Ending the War: ‘One of the Hardest Moments in History’ (end of his business model?)
U.S. Issues Alert Declaring Venezuelan Airspace a Hazard Due to Escalating Security Conditions
The U.S. State Department Announces That Mass Migration Constitutes an Existential Threat to Western Civilization and Undermines the Stability of Key American Allies
Students Challenge AI-Driven Teaching at University of Staffordshire
Pikeville Medical Center Partners with UK’s Golisano Children’s Network to Expand Pediatric Care
Germany, France and UK Confirm Full Support for Ukraine in US-Backed Security Plan
UK Low-Traffic Neighbourhoods Face Rising Backlash as Pandemic Schemes Unravel
UK Records Coldest Night of Autumn as Sub-Zero Conditions Sweep the Country
UK at Risk of Losing International Doctors as Workforce Exodus Grows, Regulator Warns
ASU Launches ASU London, Extending Its Innovation Brand to the UK Education Market
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Visit China in January as Diplomatic Reset Accelerates
Google Launches Voluntary Buyouts for UK Staff Amid AI-Driven Company Realignment
UK braces for freezing snap as snow and ice warnings escalate
Majority of UK Novelists Fear AI Could Displace Their Work, Cambridge Study Finds
UK's Carrier Strike Group Achieves Full Operational Capability During NATO Drill in Mediterranean
Trump and Mamdani to Meet at the White House: “The Communist Asked”
Nvidia Again Beats Forecasts, Shares Jump in After-Hours Trading
Wintry Conditions Persist Along UK Coasts After Up to Seven Centimetres of Snow
UK Inflation Eases to 3.6 % in October, Opening Door for Rate Cut
UK Accelerates Munitions Factory Build-Out to Reinforce Warfighting Readiness
UK Consumer Optimism Plunges Ahead of November Budget
A Decade of Innovation Stagnation at Apple: The Cook Era Critique
×