Will Ola and Uber come together? Merger talks resumed

Ola and Uber may soon be one.  Negotiations are going on between the two companies regarding the merger.  According to the Economic Times report, two sources with knowledge of the matter told him that Ola's co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal recently met top Uber executives in San Francisco based in the US.  The report states that the two companies had earlier also held talks four years ago, when SoftBank, the common investor in both, insisted on the merger.  At that time the deal between the two companies could not be done.

Challenges facing both companies

According to the report, talks between Ola and Uber have resumed in recent months, when both these companies are facing difficulties in growth.  Cab service companies have a tough competition with each other in the Indian market.  Both companies have spent billions of dollars in providing incentives to drivers and offering discount offers to passengers.

However, competition has waned in recent years, as the pandemic has hurt demand for app-based cab services in India.  Both the companies have cut down their operations in India.

Ola had laid off employees

Ola has closed its quick delivery and used car business, now the company has decided to focus on core mobility with a smaller team.  Recently, Ola also laid off employees, in which about 500 employees are being talked about.  However, according to another ET report, around 1000 people have lost their jobs in Ola.

 Meanwhile, a month ago, Uber had categorically denied any news of the sale.  It was revealed in a Bloomberg report at that time that the company had considered selling its Indian unit a year ago.

Uber did not respond to questions about talks between the two companies or Agarwal's visit to the US.  At the same time, according to ET's report, Ola also did not respond to his questions when it sought to confirm whether Agarwal had met with Uber executives or not.