Ola, Uber told to stop ride-pooling in Bengaluru; Paytm Mall controls cash burn

The transport commissioner of Karnataka has ordered cab aggregators Ola and Uber to immediately withdraw their ride-pooling feature, as per a report in The Economic Times. The directive was conveyed during a meeting in which representatives of cab owners and drivers associations were also present. 

The transport commissioner reportedly said that the ride-sharing services violate the Motor Vehicle Act and Karnataka on-demand Transportation Technology Aggregator Rules. 

Ola and Uber have had the pooling option available on their platforms since October 2015. The service allows a single cab to pick up and drop multiple passengers to distinct destinations, akin to car-pooling. 

Paytm Mall controls cash burn

Paytm Mall has managed to slash its monthly cash-burn by a third to Rs 40 crore, as per a report in The Economic Times. 

The e-commerce venture’s cash-burn peaked last year at Rs 200 crore. Paytm Mall has been looking to cut costs in line with plans to restructure its business. 

The company said that it will focus on revenue generation by offering offline seller services such as advertising and marketing. 

The e-commerce wing recently wound up its national shipping business, slashed marketing spends and trimmed cashbacks by around 80%. 

Earlier this year, One97 Communications, the holding company of Paytm Mall, said that it is likely to report its first profit in the financial year 2020-21. 

The cash burn was primarily driven by Paytm’s efforts to take on Walmart-backed Flipkart and Amazon India in the e-commerce segment.