Olacabs shuts down its in-car infotainment service, Ola Play

Bengaluru-based ride-hailing and mobility service Olacabs’ holding firm ANI Technologies, said in a public notice today that it is shutting down Ola Play, its in-cab infotainment service. The platform was launched in 2016 as a ‘contextual connected car’ service, through which the company sought to offer targeted marketing campaigns to further monetise its cab rides.

In a public notice seen by Mint, the company said that its ‘Ola Play’ service, available as a category of cabs on its platform, will be discontinued from Tuesday, November 15. The notice further said that the company has “taken appropriate measures to remove the segment from the market too.”

Ola did not respond to an email seeking comment on the matter, at the time of publishing.

The move comes after Ola shuttered ‘Dash’ in June this year — its quick commerce business. At the time, a company statement said that it is looking to double down on its electric vehicle (EV) business, which it operates under the ‘Ola Electric’ brand.

The company has so far launched two electric scooters alongside operating its ride hailing service. While the S1 Pro electric scooter was launched last year, the company launched a more affordable scooter, called Ola S1, in August this year.

However, the company has faced a number of customer backlashes through the year after a number of incidents of its scooters catching fire surfaced, leading to users questioning the quality and testing standards at the company’s EV business unit.

In May this year, a Mint investigation also found a coordinated network of social media accounts that attempted to drown out voices of criticism against the brand. Shortly thereafter, a Mint report also found out that the company had sent a notice urging one of its users and complainants, based in Guwahati, to remove his dissenting opinion against the company — after the individual’s son was injured in an incident with one of its scooters.