The document provides a competitive analysis of Meru Cabs and Ola Cabs in India. It summarizes the background, goals, missions, strategies, employees, funding, revenue, founders, business models, strengths, weaknesses, product details, and future initiatives of both companies. Meru Cabs was launched in 2007 and operates in 23 cities, while Ola Cabs was launched later and has expanded to over 100 cities. Both companies have expanded their service offerings and business models over time to adapt to competition and changing market conditions.

1. Introduction to the
Company
UpGrad Product Management Competitor
Analysis
Student Name: Pushpender Singh
Email: Pushpendersingh93@gmail.com

2. CompetitionAnalysis–MERUCABS
Meru, a Premier Ride Hailing Service In India , was launched in Mumbai in 2007 in association with True North
(formerly known as India Value Fund Advisors) and has Positioned themselves as a Trusted Brand in Organised
Taxi Market Space with steadily expanding its footprint in India. Headquartered in Mumbai, MeruCabs have
presence across 24 cities in the country and offers Five different types of products which are tailored for
customer travel needs. Meru has ride of more than 20,000 cabs and evolved as a favourite of over 12 million
riders.
DIRECT COMPETITORS
INDIRECT COMPETITORS
Source: Google, Meru

3. Competitive Analysis – Background
Backgrounds
GOALS
Ola is committed to its goals of Integrating City
Transportation onto mobile technology platform for
customers and driver-partners for ensuring convenient,
transparent, and quick service fulfilment.
Meru Goal is to evolve as an world class Taxi service in the
markets they cater and make there Brand stands for
Convenience, Reliable and Unique distinguished quality of
services in Taxi hailing industry.
MISSIONS
Users Across 110+ Cities can access Ola Mobile apps and
connect with more than 1,000,000 Driver partners across
Different categories of cabs, Taxis and Auto-Rickshaws.
Driven by a hyper local approach, Ola is committed to its
mission of building Efficient mobility services for a billion
people.
Meru Mission is to emerge as First Only Choice for any Land
Transport solutions in India By providing its commuters
with Unique world class Travelling Experience by using
technology as its core leveraging point.
STRATEGIES
Ola Initial Strategy was aggregation model with
discounting backed by technology for expansion to many
Indian cities. Then they moved to hybrid model for
ensuring driver loyalty for Establishing Ola as Leader in cab
Hailing service Market.
Meru Initial Strategy was to Purchase car under its Brand
followed by Leasing them to drivers by providing Required
Training and Better service Features for its Customers which
ensured control on Customer experience. Also, started with
aggregation model for competing with Ola/Uber.
CURRENT EMPLOYEES Ola has around 8161 Employees Meru cabs has 1000+ Employees
FUNDING
Total Funding $3.5 Billion, OLA investors are Sailing
Capital, Falcon Edge Capital, Softbank and Recent 650
Crore funding by Sachin Bansal
Meru has total funding of $75mIllion and its equity
stakeholders are Brand Capital, India Value Fund Advisors
Private Limited

4. Competitive Analysis – Background (Contd.)
Backgrounds
REVENUE DETAILS
In 2016 Filing, Ola Generated 758 Crore and
consolidated loss of Rs 2,313 crore.
Total revenue from subsidiaries like Ola Fleet
Technologies, Ola money, Zip cash Card Services and
Ola Electric Mobility.
For FY 2015-16, Meru has reported net sales of 319
Crore and loss of 16.4 Crore and company has been
operationally profitable since 2011-12
FOUNDERS PROFILES
Ola cabs was started by Bhavish Agarwal and Ankit
Bhati. They both are Graduate from IIT Bombay
Batch of 2008 and 2009.
Ankit worked in startups like QED42, Make sense and
Wilcom while Bhavish worked in Microsoft for 2
Years Before starting with Ola Cabs which is most
valued and Respected Start-up in On demand
Transportation space with valuation of $4 Billion.
Bhavish has won entrepreneur award for corporate
excellence 2017
Neeraj Gupta is founder and MD of Meru Cabs which
was started in April 2007 in partnership with India value
funds by issuing equity stake against the capital infused.
Neeraj has setup META - driver Training facility focused
on upliftment of the drivers and also started New
venture “Freshkins Foods India Pvt. Ltd”. He Received
the “Largest & Best Taxi Company in the Country
Award” from All India Passengers Association and
“Entrepreneur of the Year Award” by the Bombay
Management Association (BMA)
Source: Google Ola Meru owler

5. BUSINESS MODEL ANALYSIS
Backgrounds
OPERATING CITIES
Ola has expanded to a network of more than
10,00,000 vehicles across 169 cities. In January 2018,
Ola extended into its first overseas market,
Australia, in New Zealand in September 2018. It also
has presence in UK.
Meru Available in 23 cities which are Mumbai, Delhi,
Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Gurgaon,
Noida, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Pune,
Chandigarh, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Mysore,
Jodhpur, Udaipur, Indore, Ludhiana, Coimbatore, and
Kochi.
TARGET MARKET
Ola cabs Targets Three Travel segments like
Outstation, Local City taxi and Rentals within city
Limits. To cater these customer segments, Ola cabs
have integrated its cab portfolio with Car Models
such as Ola Mini, hatchback version, Sedan and
Luxury vehicles along with Ola Auto for cost effective
Rides.
Meru currently caters to End customer segment with
its B2C model in place and is planning to venture out
in B2B customer segments for more sustained
Revenue streams through strategic Tie-ups. They have
started with trial corporate travel program in New
Delhi region and have on boarded three new corporate
companies.
REVENUE MODEL
Ola adopts Pay-For-performance Model approach,
They charges commission in any sales made over its
platform and also charges Small fees to Taxi drivers
for accessing its technology platform.
Its has 2 models - Leasing Cabs to driver and getting
fixed amount paid per day basis, Driver Owns cars and
Meru charges commission of 15-25% of daily fair,
Since meru owns 50 % of its own fleet hence leverages
by using as an advertising platform.

6. BUSINESS MODEL ANALYSIS – CONTD.
BACKGROUNDS ORIGINAL MODEL CHANGES IN MODEL REASONS FOR CHANGE
• Ola Original Model was Asset
Light aggregation model which
they developed by on boarding
Local taxi services and
Individual Drivers owning
Taxi/Cab
• Commission charged from total
fare based on city and car type
• Invest in technology for
making excellent platforms to
engage young customers and
smart phone customers
• Better drivers incentives to get
drivers on boarded on ola
platform
• Acquistion of Taxiforsure for
inorganic growth in 2015
• Hybrid model for Investing in
buying vehicles and leasing it to
drivers
• Launching Ola Money mobile
wallet - addition to revenue
streams and customer retention
• Gauging the customer demands,
Expansion in products like autos,
high end premium sedan
segment and Launching sharing
cab services
• Faster acquisition of Large pool
of Drivers and Vehicles and
Simultaneously Increasing Ola
Customer Base
• Better Incentives provided to
driver to ensure they are on
boarded for longer time and
Hence Good customer
experience Streamlining
• Launching Different price
points products for varied
category of customers from
Luxury to Auto segments
• With Increasing customer
demand for Better facility and
comfort, Ola Launched Wi-Fi
and Ola select services
Source: Google inc42 , unicornomy

7. BUSINESS MODEL ANALYSIS – CONTD.
BACKGROUNDS ORIGINAL MODEL CHANGES IN MODEL REASONS FOR CHANGE
• Started as Asset Heavy
Inventory Model which was
capital intensive which had
better control on drivers
• Targeted Customer were
Airport and Railway Doing
advance booking
• Revenue stream from
advertisements placed in cab
• Fixed Fare model and
Transparent pricing model
• Drivers need to pay Fixed per
day Rate
• Shifted to Hybrid model - Asset
Light Aggregation model with
revenues on commission basis
• Expansion to Tier 2 cities for more
customer base
• Bringing new unique model for
giving customer new options to
choose ride based on Car Model,
Expected time of arrival, fare and
rating of each cab driver.
• Meru Cabs is aggressively focused
on getting its B2B offerings doubled
to provide corporate employees
Transportation Facilities, Car rentals
and Airport contracts..
• Launched Genie - Low Cost Taxi
service which has hatchback fleet
Responsible for 75 % of revenues
and Meru Plus Premium brand
extension
• To counter falling revenues,
Meru to focus on B2B
Customer segments with ola
and Uber Leading in B2C Cab
hailing market
• Improved Data connectivity and
Cheaper smartphones helped
in faster expansion to Tier2/3
Cities and garnering customer
Base
• Meru Competitors with deep
pockets were able to provide
customers with high discounts
and Better incentives for drivers
to gain market share
• Meru aims to increase booking
through the app to cut
manpower costs.

8. STRENGTH & WEAKNESS ANALYSIS
PARAMETERS STRENGTH WEAKNESS PAIN POINTS
• First Taxi Aggregator to launch its service in India
hence First Mover advantage.
• Taxi for sure Acquisition to gain strong hold on
Taxi hailing services Market
• Marketing Ola as Preferred Brand Name for Taxi
services using Print, TV and Online Platform
• Network effect Responsible for increasing
customer Base in short span of time
• Massive Expansion across fleets and Online
application Platform
• Customer complaint of service issues
due to lack of training to drivers
• Huge Marketing spends for inorganic
user growth which impacts
profitability of company
• Due to ambiguity in Government Taxi
cabs Rules & Regulations, Ola has to
be prepared to change product
Features in short span of time for
which additional cost is required and
Degradation of services .
• Drivers misconduct in terms of
navigation, Service denial, and
app abuse etc. affect Ola Brand
Image
• Charging the user multiple times
for rides
• Payment delays for driver
community
• Unreasonable surge prices on
rides
• Ola drivers Lack proper training
on app use.
• First mover advantage in radio taxi operator
segment and Strong awareness as a taxi operator
in India
• Meru Training Academy for Making Drivers
Trained on factors of safety, Behaviour skills and
Good Car Condition
• Meru Cabs early entry in metered Radio cabs
segments & Provide 24x7 e-bill services facility for
the customers
• Served more than 2 million customers & Received
several awards like NASSCOM-CNBC IT User
Award 2008 holistic approach to IT adoption with
the business strategy of the company
• Expensive fares compared to its
competitors
• Huge investment Required for
expansion to other cities considering
its business model of owning the
vehicles
• Presence in lesser number of cities
and pressure on marketing budget
with Its competitors having deep
pockets
• Meru app Issues/security features
lacking
• Bugs in Meru app with instances
of app getting crashed
• Less efficient customer service.
• Late Notification Regarding cab
unavailability for advance cab
booking
• Expensive Fares/Less offers
• Service denial By Drivers hence
creating confusion for customers
Source (Pain points): Linkedin blogs , Googleplay & Unicornomy

9. PRODUCT DETAILS AND PERFORMANCES ANALYSIS
PARAMETERS
Apps download
IOS - NA
Android - 50M – 60M
Windows - NA
IOS - NA
Android - 1M – 5M
Windows - NA
App Ratings
IOS - Rating: 4.6 with 835,552 reviews
Android – 4.1 rating with 1140000 reviews
Windows - NA
IOS - Rating: 2.5 with 300 reviews
Android – 3.8 Rating with 56000 reviews
Windows - NA
How is the user
experience of the apps?
• Ola Cabs are first to launch App for booking Cab
services.
• UI are made from point of view of convenience
of booking cabs/Auto in less time
• Many Segments of cabs available with
categories of within city, outstation and rental
services.
• Faster than competitors apps
• Other issues are with GPS location, Long time for
cab to Reach customer Location under share cab
options
• Meru Cabs Launch Application quite late in cab
hailing market
• Last Minute booking availability
• Cross Platform app rather than OS Specific App
• Multiple Clicks to book Ride/Not so effective app
• Limited segments of cars available on app
• Expensive services and Less safety Features
Source: OlaGoogleplay, MeruGoogleplay

10. PRODUCT DETAILS AND PERFORMANCES ANALYSIS
PARAMETERS
How is the overall
functionality of the
apps?
Ola App continuous to dominate in cab hailing
service with having largest Market share by
Providing better User experience with inbuilt
features like setting up pick location, choosing cabs
category and using multiple payment options,
Confirmation and Tracking Cab in Real time.
Other Benefits offered are :
• Different ways to pay with the options of ola
money, UPI, debit/credit cards, Jio Money
• Money Saving options for Regular Travel
customers by availing Cab pass & share pass
services
• Ola Play, schedule ride later, Checking Fares for
Rides before scheduling and Travel with safety
features
• Meru app provides features to book Instant Ride
and Later Ride scheduling by selecting
Destination, Fare/Model/ETA selection and
booking ride.
• True Marketplace Model: The only cab app that
enables driver-partners to set own fare in a
given range, customers can choose cab ride
based on lowest fare, lowest ETA, highest driver
rating and car model.
• Payment modes like Cash, Wallet apps like
paytm, jiomoney, Freecharge or bharat QR Code
• Tracking cab Real time, ICE(In case of emergency)
security features Inbuilt
• Different Range of cabs like Hatchbacks, Sedans,
SUVs for local, outstation or rental services
Source: Googleplay Economic times

11. FUTURE INITIATIVES – OLA
• Ola looking to leverage its Ola Play platform by getting more advertisers on board and partnership with Microsoft will help passengers to
improve their efficiency/productivity by giving access to MS Office Tools on car screens.
• Increasing number of Regional languages on Ola App to provide better flexibility to customers & drivers of tier 2 cities and ultimately
increasing the app usage considering its expansion Growth strategy Plan in Tier 2/3 Cities.
• Ola cabs launched 'Ola Partners League' – a unique virtual cricket game for its driver partners by building solutions and initiatives for driver
partners to enable their professional and personal growth to establish Strategic Relationship with its driver community.
• To empower woman Driver entrepreneur, Olacabs Has Launched - "Pink cabs" services which will only caters to female passengers hence
creating a niche and USP for Itself. Ola continuously streamlining its App for better customer experience by working on features like Precise
GPS Locations, Decreasing Ola App Lagging times, Route path on Real time basis and In app button for Passenger safety purpose.
• Ola venturing into New Markets of Australia, New Zealand and UK to cater to local needs by Leveraging its Technology capabilities to gain
significant market share by providing fair commission Based Deals to drivers and Excellent quality of Rides to passengers with safety Features.
• Ola continues to collaborate with Governments, Local Authorities and other Institutions to solve Transport and other mobility issues
1. Have setup Ola mobility Institute for developing Thought Leadership on issues of mobility, energy and environmental issues
2. Exclusive Tie-up with Chennai International Airport for Improving last mile connectivity
3. #RoadtoGold for nationwide crowd funding campaign to enable gold Dreams for India.
Source: Ola Media , Economic Times & Redseer Reports