Ola Partners With PhonePe to Promote Digital Payments Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Ola users will be able to pay for rides with PhonePe soon. Ola on Tuesday announced a strategic partnership with digital payments platform, PhonePe. Through this development, Ola users will be able to link their existing PhonePe account with their Ola account in order to make payments for future rides. The Bengaluru-based Ola noted in an official blog post that the partnership will "complement" the company's recent safety initiative, Ride Safe India that encourages customers to opt for digital payment channels to "ensure a zero-contact mobility experience," amid the coronavirus pandemic. Notably, the platform already offers several digital payments options in the form of Ola Money, Credit/ Debit card payments, and UPI payments.

The option to link PhonePe account with the Ola app is currently available to Android users in India. It will soon reach iOS users, Ola said in a blog post. Users can check its availability by selecting the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) at the top left > Payments > PhonePe option. Users are advised to use the latest version of the app.

"This is a unique implementation where customers can use all of PhonePe's payment instruments including the PhonePe wallet to make payments, in addition to UPI. The combined scale and capabilities of Ola and PhonePe will play a pivotal role in further fueling the adoption of digital payment solutions for the mobility industry," Ola said.

Additionally, Ola has announced a cashback of Rs. 100 for the first two rides when paid using PhonePe.

Under the Ride Safe India initiative, Ola has also announced protective partition screen in Ola Autos. This essentially means that Ola has added a plastic barrier between the driver and the passenger, to ensure "hygiene protocols" amid the pandemic. Ola also claims that the company has set up a network of over 100 fumigation centres across the country to enable mandatory fumigation for all vehicles every 48 hours.

Ola's biggest rival in India, Uber has also introduced a similar campaign namely, "Safer For Each Other" to promote safe travel protocols in a bid to curb the spread of coronavirus.

In 2020, will WhatsApp get the killer feature that every Indian is waiting for? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.