Aiming to wrest control of India's booming taxi market, two cab-hailing smartphone apps — Uber and Ola — are promising hundreds of millions in new investment while also facing off with one another in court. San Francisco-based Uber reportedly plans a $500 million infusion of new funds, apart from the $1 billion already committed over the past nine months, according to Indian newspapers. The company declined this week to comment on those reports. Meanwhile, Ola Cabs promises to add another 2,000 cars to the fleet of 26,000 it already commands in New Delhi, chief spokesman Anand Subramanian said. But it's the ongoing legal wrangles between the two — with each accusing the other of behaving unethically — that have drawn focus to the struggle for India's $9 billion taxi industry and future growth possibilities in a country with an urban population of 400 million people but few options in safe, convenient public transportation. This month, Uber filed suit against Ola, accusing its Bangalore-based rival of hijacking its business by creating fake accounts to make bookings with Uber that it then canceled. Ola denied the allegations, calling them ludicrous and suggesting they were a smoke screen to hide Uber's own troubles. Ola previously challenged Uber in court over what it said were illegal business practices. Analysts say the court battles show competition for market dominance is becoming fierce. "It's a tussle to capture the top spot among taxi-hailing apps and the title of No. 1," said Jaspal Singh, founder of Valoriser Consultants, specializing in analysis of the transportation industry. Smartphone taxi apps, introduced in India in 2010, have grown to account for 10 percent of the country's overall taxi industry, which also includes regular cabs and three-wheeler "rickshaws." Ola has already bought out the upstart TaxiForSure, and both Uber and Ola offer rates below those of traditional taxis. Meanwhile, they are quickly adding new cities and customers, including car drivers increasingly fed up with traffic gridlock and difficulty finding parking on India's overcrowded roads. So far Ola has been dominating the smartphone app market, with a presence in more than 100 cities and roughly half of the business, analysts say. Uber, which entered the Indian market in 2013, operates in 29 Indian cities and is anxious to expand, while myriad small players are clawing their way in. In the latest legal action between the two, filed in the Delhi High Court, Uber demanded an injunction against Ola and $7.4 million in damages. — AP
