Arvind Singhal quits as chief executive of TaxiForSure

NEW DELHI: Arvind Singhal, chief executive of OlaCabs’ subsidiary TaxiForSure, has resigned from the company amid a major restructuring in the organisation just four months after the taxi app was acquired for $200 million (about Rs 1,280 crore).

The company has now appointed Pallav Singh, one of the early employees at Ola, as the CEO while Singhal will be working in a consulting role over the next three months to help in smooth transition.

Right after it merged with Ola, TaxiForSure saw the exodus of its top management including co-founders Aprameya Radhakrishna and Raghunandan G, chief financial officer Ganesh Venkataraman, chief technical officer Amitava Ghosh, human resources head Hari TN, chief marketing officer Randeep Singh and product head Nitin Pulyani. Along with the brass, at least 50 middle-level executives quit from the headquarters in Bengaluru.

Five people that ET spoke to cited lack of operational freedom, instability in the organisation, difference in work culture and better opportunities as reasons for their departure. “After being promised the TaxiForSure will be run as a separate entity, Ola has integrated its product, technology and engineering team with TaxiForSure, raising questions about the independent future of the company,” said one executive.

Ola confirmed the integration, saying it saw “significant benefit” in integrating some core teams like product and engineering across the two brands. However, the company clarified that TaxiForSure continues to operate as an independent brand with a focus on the economy cab segment.

The resignation comes at a time when Ola is aggressively expanding yet struggling to keep up its technology and its rival Uber is ramping up city launches and beefing up its top management team.

Singhal, a B Tech from IIT Bombay, became the CEO of TaxiForSure post the merger with Ola. He joined the company from McDonald’s, where he was the director, south - marketing.