OCar, like Uber and Bolt, is a taxi hailing service. The cab-hailing service was introduced by Opera Pay (OPay) in November 2019. In Opera’s ride hailing universe, the service joins ORide (a motorcycle hailing service), OTrike (a tricycle hailing service), and OBus (for bus hailing).
Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Benin, and Kaduna are among the eight main Nigerian cities where OCar has begun operations. OCar, like Opera’s other ride-hailing services, is integrated into the OPay App.
OPay’s choice of location for OCar’s launch has been interpreted as an attempt to compete with dominant ride hailing companies such as Bolt, an Estonian-owned taxi cab hailing online service (formerly known as Taxify, and present in all states except Kaduna and Abeokuta) and Uber, an American-owned ride hailing company (which operates in Lagos, Benin and Abuja).
How to Become an OCar Driver
To comply with industry norms, prospective OCar drivers must first register their vehicles on the platform, have them verified, and be approved before boarding.
OCar charges a 15% commission to drivers, which drops to 3% once they complete 20 trips in the same week.
When compared to the 20% and up that most of its competitors charge as commission, this is a great deal for the drivers. It is fairly simple for interested drivers to join.
Simply download the Opay app and sign up for an account (sign up). After you’ve signed up, go ahead and register your car by following the platform’s instructions. You can join once you’ve been confirmed and accredited.
How to Order a Ride on OCar
To use OCar, you’ll need the OPay mobile app, where you’ll be able to see and explore the OCar function. If you don’t already have the OPay app for Android or iOS, you can get it from the Playstore or the App Store.
It is preferable to have your location turned on or to grant access to your location if a pop up prompts for it to make the procedure easier. You can also choose your starting point and then your destination, following which your fare will show.
If you accept the offer, a driver near your pickup location will pick up your order and phone you to confirm it, following which the estimated arrival time will be shown. The minutes displayed will count down until he comes, which is usually very close to the actual time.
When the driver arrives, he will drive you to your desired location, after which you will pay for your fare. Payments are commonly made via the OPay mobile app, which allows you to make payments using your OPay account.
You can fund your OPay account with a direct bank transfer, USSD, Mobile Banking, or a credit card transaction.
It’s worth noting that OCar only operates in Lagos state, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Abuja, Owerri, Benin, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and a few other places it has expanded to. To find out if Ocar is now accessible in your city, use the OCar feature on the OPay mobile app.
Some of OPay’s transit-hailing services were available prior to the debut of OCar. ORide, OTrike, and OBus are the names of the hailing services.
ORide is a bicycle taxi service. ORide, which allows you to hail a bike, is available in various portions of Lagos state, as well as Ibadan, Ilorin, Port Harcourt, and other cities, but not throughout the country. If the ORide service is not available in your area, you will not see the ORide icon on your OPay dashboard.
OTrike, on the other hand, is a three-wheeled ride-hailing service that was launched by OPay just a few months after ORide. It works in a similar fashion to ORide. It began in Aba and Kano, but has now spread to numerous other places, including Enugu. If OTrike is available in your area, you will see the icon.
Users of the OBus app can only order buses and pay with their Opay wallet balance or a “OBus card” acquired offline from Opay agents at selected bus stations.
The OBus card is available in a variety of denominations, with the lowest available value being N200. To make payment, a sensor reader will scan the barcode of the OBus card, and the fare will be debited from the card.
The card can be used as many times as necessary until the credit is depleted. OCar came out after OBus, making it the most recent of these ride-hailing services. All of these services provide services in various areas. All you have to do now is determine which ones are available in your neighborhood and take advantage of their services.
OCar is more akin to Uber and Bolt than to Lyft. It allows you to summon a cab immediately from your phone. OCar’s fares are likewise reasonably priced.