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Tumhari Sulu Vidya Balan meets Ola women driver partners celebrates and roots for their success stories
by Prashant Kapadia/NHN
Mumbai: Ola, India’s most popular mobile app for transportation, presented their women driver partners with an exclusive opportunity of meeting film star Vidya Balan. The meetup was a part of Ola’s tie-up with T-Series and Ellipsis Entertainment family film Tumhari Sulu. Vidya, who has championed the cause of highlighting women-oriented themes on the silver screen, was intrigued to hear inspiring stories of Ola’s women driver partners and encouraged their dedication to become self-sustained entrepreneurs. Vidya Balan said, Listening to the journey and stories of Ola’s women driver partners was heart-warming. Sulu is a housewife who shines after a great opportunity comes her way. I believe that while its important to be dedicated, it is just as crucial to be blessed with the right opportunity. Im glad that Ola is empowering these aspiring entrepreneurs with a platform to build their professional lives.
Mudit Shekhawat, Senior Director – Marketing at Ola, said, It was great to have a big star like Vidya Balan support and encourage our women driver partners. Her latest film, Tumhari Sulu sees her in an avatar of a homemaker who decides to do something better and bigger for herself professionally, which is exactly how these women driver partners have felt in their lives. All of us have seen Vidya portray many power-packed characters on-screen and there couldnt have been a better influencer than her to cheer for this brigade of successful entrepreneurs that we have nurtured across the country.
With more than 900,000 lakh driver partners associated with the platform, Ola, since its inception in 2011, has been creating entrepreneurial opportunities, helping men and women across the country take the first step towards entrepreneurship. Over 75% of drivers associated with Ola are self-sustained entrepreneurs and are leveraging the digital platform for consistent access to demand and increased level of earnings. Prajakta Salunkhe, Ola driver partner – Mumbai said, While Ola has been supporting and empowering us with many opportunities, this latest one where we got to meet with Vidya Balan is hugely memorable. It was such an overwhelming moment to share the stage with her and she encouraged us to continue with our hard work and remain dedicated towards our duty as a responsible driver partner. I have always taken a lot of pride in my job and today, I would like to thank Ola once again for giving me the opportunity to become a self-sustained entrepreneur with access to steady revenue opportunities and a chance of a better livelihood.
Much like the driver partners at Ola, Vidyas character in Tumhari Sulu is dedicated towards building a successful professional career. In the movie, Sulu draws inspiration from working women. In the movie, Vidya’s character is seen travelling to and from office in an Ola.
Recent driver partner initiatives @ Ola: Over the last few years, Ola has rolled out multiple programs for the driver partner community, enabling them to earn better livelihoods and encourage micro-entrepreneurship. Recently, Ola kicked off its monthly program, Heroes of Ola, a multi-city initiative to recognize and reward outstanding driver partners. Heroes of Ola get selected basis customer feedback received by Ola through various interactive channels like social media, emails, and in-app feedback. It is a special initiative aimed at recognising these exceptional driver partners and to motivate the entire partner community to offer exemplary service at all times.
Ola has also created engagement programs like Ola Partners League (OPL), partnership with cricket academies to offer scholarships to driver partners children; helping drivers in filing their income tax returns, medical camps for free check-ups among other initiatives. With initiatives like Driver Melas and skilling programs, Ola has enabled lakhs of driver partners to lead fulfilled lives.
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 fulfilment. 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.
