Mobile app cab service Ola (formerly known as Olacabs) has acquired rival TaxiForSure for $200 million or Rs 1240 crore ($1=Rs62), the company announced on Monday. The move is likely to pose stiff competition to other mobile app-based cab providers Uber and Meru.



"With this deal, Ola, which is already the market leader in the personal transportation space with over 1-lakh vehicles on its platform, has further deepened its footprint with TaxiForSure's operator led model," the company said.



Ola was founded in January 2011 by IIT Bombay alumni Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati and calls itself India's leading mobile application for personal transportation, integrating city transportation for customers and drivers onto a technology platform.



Ola had received funding worth $210 million or Rs 1302 crore led by Japanese communication giant SoftBank in October.



TaxiForSure is India second largest cab aggregator and the buyout is a cash and equity deal.





"There is significant complimentary value that this acquisition adds both on the supply and demand side for Ola and TaxiForSure. TaxiForSure follows a different model of supply and distribution by working with cab operators compared to Ola's model of working with driver-entrepreneurs," a statement from the company said.Ola and TaxiForSure will continue to operate as separate entities, the company said. The leadership and all of the 1700 employees shall continue to work with TaxiForSure. It clarified.

TaxiForSure is currently in 47 cities with over 15,000 vehicles registered on its platform.TaxiForSure was founded in June 2011 by IIM-Ahmedabad graduates Raghunandan G and Aprameya Radhakrishna.