Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal denied the firm is in merger talks with Uber
Ola chief executive Bhavish Aggarwal has denied media reports of merger talks with Uber. Mr Aggarwal tweeted Ola is "very profitable and growing well" and the reports of merger talks with the American ride-hailing firm are "absolute rubbish".
News agency Reuters reported Ola and Uber are considering a potential merger, quoting an Economic Times report that cited sources familiar with the matter. NDTV too had carried the Reuters report.
Uber also denied the report of the merger talks. "That report is inaccurate. We are not, nor have we been, in merger talks with Ola," Uber said in a statement.
The two companies have been slugging it out in an intensely competitive Indian market and have spent billions in incentives and discounts to passengers.
Uber sold its local food delivery business Uber Eats to Zomato in January 2020, while Ola shut down its grocery delivery business and has of late invested billions of dollars in its electric vehicle venture, Ola Electric Mobility.
Ola's delayed initial public offering, or IPO, is likely to happen this year or in early 2023.
Earlier this month, it was reported Ola would cut jobs and stopped the performance appraisal of employees for this year. Ola reportedly laid off nearly 500 employees on a performance basis across various departments and limited their operations because of funding issues.
The company also recently shut down its vehicle business, Ola Cars, which was almost a year old but didn't gain much revenue and business.