OCar was a taxi hailing service similar to Uber and Bolt. Opera Pay (OPay) launched the cab-hailing service in November 2019. The service joins ORide (a motorcycle hailing service), OTrike (a tricycle hailing service), and OBus (for bus hailing) in Opera’s ride hailing universe.
OCar started operations in eight major Nigerian cities namely Lagos, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Benin and Kaduna. Like other transport hailing services offered by Opera, OCar is built into the OPay App.
OPay’s choice of location on OCar’s launch has portrayed an attempt to compete with dominating ride hailing companies like the Estonia-owned Bolt, which is a taxi cab hailing online service, (formerly called Taxify, which is present in all the states except Kaduna and Abeokuta) and the American-owned Uber (which operates in Lagos, Benin and Abuja).
You may also be interested on How to Open an OPay Account.
How to Become an OCar Driver
To meet the industry standards, intending OCar drivers are to sign up their cars on the platform, get verified and accredited before going on board.
OCar charges 15% commission from drivers and reduces the commission charge to 3% after drivers have done 20 trips within the same week.
This is a great deal for the drivers when compared to the 20% and above most of it’s competitors charge as commission. For interested drivers to join, it is very simple.
Simply download the OPay mobile app and create an account (sign up). After signing up, proceed to register your car by following the instructions given on the platform. Once you get verified and accredited you can go on board.
Also see OWealth.
How to Order a Ride on OCar
To use OCar, you need the OPay mobile app where you will see the OCar feature and be able to explore it. If you don’t have the OPay app download it on your Playstore or Apple store for your Android or iOS respectively.
To make the process easy, it is better to either have your location turned on or allow access to your location, that is if a pop up prompts for that. There is also an option for you to select your location and after that you proceed to select your destination after which your fare will appear.
If you accept the offer a driver close to your pickup location will pick your order and call you to confirm the order, after which the minutes for him to arrive will be displayed. The minutes displayed will countdown until he arrives which is usually almost accurate.
Once the driver arrives, he will drive you to your selected destination after which you’re going to make payment for your fare. Payment is usually done through the OPay mobile app where you can make payment from your OPay account.
You can fund your OPay account by making a direct transfer from your bank through, USSD, Mobile Banking or using your credit card.
It is important to note that OCar functions in Lagos state, Ibadan, Abeokuta, Abuja, Owerri, Benin, port Harcourt, Kaduna and some other cities it has extended to but not across the country. Explore the OCar function on the OPay mobile app to know if OCar is currently available in your city.
Some transit hailing services offered by OPay has been in existence before the launch of OCar. These hailing services are called ORide, OTrike and OBus. OPay also has other services like marketing website OLeads, classifieds ads site OList, food delivery service OFood, and instant loan app OKash.
ORide is a bike ride-hailing service. ORide allows hail a bike and is available in some parts of Lagos state, Ibadan, Ilorin, Port Harcourt and some other cities but not across the country. You will not see the ORide icon on your OPay dashboard if the service is not available in your location.
OTrike on the other hand is a three-wheeled ride-hailing service launched by OPay few months after ORide was successfully launched. It operates in a way similar to ORide. It was launched in Aba and Kano but has extended to many other cities like Enugu. You will see the OTrike icon if it is available in your location.
OBus users can only order buses with the OPay app and will be able to make payments with their OPay wallet balance or an “OBus card” which can be purchased offline from OPay agents at designated bus stations.
The OBus card comes in different denominations and the lowest available amount is N200. A sensor reader will be used to scan the barcode of the OBus card to make payment and the fare will be deducted from the card.
The card can be used for multiple times until the credit is exhausted. OCar was launched a while after OBus making it the latest of these ride hailing services. All of these services are active in different areas. You just have to confirm the ones available in your area and enjoy their services.
OCar is more similar to Uber and Bolt. It enables you call a taxi directly on your phone. Fares on OCar are also competitively priced.
