The Ola business model, for its ride-hailing arm Ola Consumer, used to rest on a 15% to 30% commission on every ride, but since June 2025 it has moved to a zero-commission model in which drivers pay a fixed daily or monthly subscription. This article covers the ride-hailing business run by ANI Technologies. Ola Electric is a separate listed company that earns money by selling scooters and is covered only briefly below.
Ola is an aggregator that connects riders with drivers, and how it charges has changed.
- Riders book a cab, auto or bike through the app, and drivers receive the fare
- Ola now charges drivers a platform subscription instead of a per-ride cut
- It also earns from vehicle leasing, financial services and other adjacent businesses
- Revenue has fallen sharply while competition from Rapido and Uber has grown
The Old Model: Commission
For years, Ola took a share of each fare.
- Commission is quoted at 15% to 20% of fare by one report and 20% to 30% by another
- Surge pricing raised fares at busy times, which raised Ola’s cut
- Drivers complained that after commissions and costs, little was left, according to one account
- The model scaled with ride volume, but it also made Ola dependent on keeping drivers on the platform
The New Model: Subscriptions
Since mid-2025, drivers pay for access rather than per ride.
- One guide says Ola moved to zero commission from June 2025, with drivers keeping 100% of fares and paying a one-time or subscription fee
- A report says it was rolled out pan-India, replacing per-ride commissions with fixed daily or monthly subscriptions
- One example puts the fee at ₹67 a day
- Uber has also moved toward subscriptions, according to the same report
What That Does to Revenue
A rough comparison shows the shift.
- Suppose a driver earns ₹2,000 in fares a day
- At 15% to 20% commission, Ola would take ₹300 to ₹400
- At ₹67 a day, it takes about 17% to 22% of that, a cut of roughly 80% in its take
- Those fares are an assumption for illustration, not reported figures
- Subscriptions give predictable income, but the monetisation burden shifts to other businesses, as one report notes
Other Income Lines
ANI Technologies runs more than the app.
- Ola Fleet: leases vehicles to drivers who don’t own one
- Ola Financial Services: lending and related products
- Ola Money: a wallet that earns transaction fees and merchant partnerships, according to one guide
- Ola Foods: cloud kitchens, from Wikipedia’s account of the group
- The sources don’t give revenue for each line
The FY25 Numbers
The results show a business under strain, though figures differ.
- Consolidated operating revenue fell about 42% to ₹1,170.9 crore from ₹2,011.9 crore in FY24
- Consolidated net loss widened to ₹662.4 crore from ₹328.7 crore, and the standalone loss was about ₹698 crore
- Revenue from the main cab business fell nearly 47%
- One report puts FY25 total income at ₹1,394 crore and the loss at ₹457 crore including impairments, which doesn’t match the ₹662 crore figure, so check the filing
- A headline giving revenue as ₹1.71 crore is a typo
- Another report puts the consolidated loss at ₹1,974.7 crore, including a ₹1,312 crore hit from the fall in Ola Electric’s share price
Competition
Rivals have taken share.
- Rapido and Uber have gained at Ola’s expense, according to several reports
- Rapido’s FY25 revenue was ₹934 crore with a loss of ₹258 crore
- Bharat Taxi, a driver-owned cooperative app backed by government-supported cooperative bodies, launched in pilot in Delhi and Gujarat on a zero-commission model
- Moody’s downgraded ANI Technologies, citing continued losses, weak cash flow and refinancing risks
Restructuring
Cost cuts are the current story.
- Ola Consumer reportedly turned free cash flow positive in the second half of FY26, according to people familiar with the matter
- The report credits headcount rationalisation, operational consolidation and automation
- It says the company expects to sustain positive free cash flow into FY27, which is an expectation, not a result
A Note on Ola Electric
It’s a different company with a different model.
- Ola Electric earns by selling electric scooters, along with services such as charging and maintenance
- It has faced falling revenue, heavy cash burn and a loss of market share, with one report saying its quarterly revenue fell below Ather’s
- Ola Consumer’s stake in it affects consolidated losses when its share price falls, but the two businesses earn money differently
Risks
The model has real pressures.
- Subscription income is small per driver, so volume and driver retention matter
- Losing market share to Rapido and Uber erodes the network effect
- Refinancing and rating pressure follow persistent losses
- A cooperative rival with no commission challenges the pricing story
FAQs
Q1. How does Ola make money?
Mainly by charging drivers a platform subscription, plus vehicle leasing, financial services and other adjacent businesses.
Q2. Does Ola still charge commission?
Not per ride. Reports say it moved to zero commission from June 2025, with drivers paying a fixed daily or monthly fee.
Q3. What was Ola’s FY25 revenue?
Consolidated operating revenue was ₹1,170.9 crore, down 42%, with a consolidated net loss of ₹662.4 crore.
Q4. Is Ola Electric part of this?
It’s a separate listed company that sells electric scooters, though Ola Consumer holds a stake in it.
