The company said that it will further scale this up in the coming months to include more small towns and Tier 3 cities across India. Pranay Jivrajka, Chief Operating Officer, Ola, said, "It's an honour to support PM Modi's 'Stand-up India' initiative aimed at empowering thousands of e-rickshaw driver-partners, with innovative micro-entrepreneurship solutions and technology platform. Economic growth, rapid urbanization and environmental concerns are driving the need for innovative mobility solutions across the country. The transportation needs of users in smaller towns and sustainable alternatives for cycle rickshaw peddlers, will be solved with the introduction of e-rickshaws on the Ola app, which are affordable, environment friendly and convenient to hail."
Ola and BMC will also set up and run skill development centers in these towns to enable training.
Shri Mahesh Sharma, Hon'ble MoS, Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, said, "The Government is committed to enabling better livelihoods through high impact skilling initiatives and opportunity creation. E-rickshaws are not only sustainable, but also a simple, yet very effective solution to an otherwise physically taxing pedal rickshaw riding... we are confident that many cycle rickshaw-pullers will grow into e-rickshaw driver-entrepreneurs, addressing the mobility needs of this country."
