Ola COO Pranay Jivrajka calls Uber ‘disrespectful’ of India’s laws

In a recent blog post, Ola’s first full time employee and current Chief Operating Officer Ola COO Pranay Jivrajka has leveled serious charges against segment competitor Uber. He alleges the latter is fanning ‘a debate of nationalism to hide their identity of being a multi-national’. He also alleges the competition has ‘serial violations of law as an integral part of its business strategy’.

In his post Jivrajka claims Ola has partnered with the Indian government, even at a ‘serious business expense’ to itself. He says the onus is on the business to work with the Government and evolve the ecosystem further in a partnership mode. Citing the example of Uber’s ‘card on file’ payment system and bike taxis in Gurgaon, Jivrajka claims the competition is running a business despite ‘multiple notices and seizures of hundreds of vehicles.’

The company executive goes on to say that while during the Delhi Diesel ban, Ola was committed to 100% CNG adoption, Uber continued to ply diesel vehicles with ‘absolute disregard for the state and the court of law’.

On Monday, Ola filed in the Karnataka High Court saying that it has complied with all requirements to continue operating. This was to counter to a petition by rival Uber India which challenged the Karnataka On-Demand Transportation Technology Aggregator Rules, 2016.

Ola said Uber’s petition is motivated in an “attempt to bypass the laws of the land by foreign companies who run their operations in this country for profit without due regard for the applicable laws”.

Both Ola and Uber have been fighting a bloody price war to gain market share in India.