App cab service Ola has inducted yellow taxis in its fleet of cars.

The taxis booked through the app will run on meter and the fares will be same as that of normal taxis. But Rs 10 will be charged extra as convenience fee.

The Ola Taxi service - yellow as well as the blue-and-white ones (AC and Non-AC) - already active from Friday, allows passengers with smartphones to book a cab through a taxi icon on the bottom right of the Ola app homepage.

Everything is same as that of other app-based service providers like Uber, such as a person can know the approximate distance at which a taxi is stationed while booking a cab. Once a ride is confirmed, the app will show a driver's name, phone number and taxi number.

All features of the Ola app such as an SOS button or sharing ride details and GPS tracking are available with Ola Taxi. Payments can be made in cash or through Ola Money, an e-wallet managed by the app cab operator.

So, what is different? Unlike other Ola cabs, a person has to mention his destination while booking a taxi.

Once a driver accepts a ride request, he is supposed to display a "reserved" card on his windscreen so that people on the road do not hail him.

"This is a conspiracy by the app cab providers... they want to show the authorities that some of our members are part of the fleet," said Bimal Guha of the Bengal Taxi Association, which has called for a 48-hour strike on September 2 and 3 to protest app cabs.

"We cannot forcibly stop a taxi owner from moving over to an app cab operator but it's time we showed solidarity and don't fall prey to delusions."

Guha said several taxi operators had approached him over the past couple of days, seeking permission to join Ola.

He said the company had offered them a "lucrative package of Rs 200 a day above whatever he earns during the day".

"We will meet the principal secretary on Monday as well as the director of the public vehicles department to lodge a complaint against the operator," Guha said. He said the association had plans to introduce an app-based system to beat app cab providers.

C. Murugan, director of the public vehicles department, said there was nothing illegal or wrong if yellow taxis joined a private app cab provider. "The state government fixes the rates for yellow taxis. So, they have to stick to it," he said.

The government has fixed a minimum fare of Rs 25 for the first 2km and thereafter Rs 12 for every kilometre for yellow and blue-and-white non-AC taxis.

An Ola mini service that offers hatchback cars runs the first 4km for Rs 99 and thereafter charges Rs 9 for every kilometre. Also, there's a ride time charge of Re 1 for every minute after the first 10 minutes. To add to that there's a surcharge of 1.3 times to 2.2 times during rush hours or during heavy rain along with a service tax.

In case of an Ola sedan, the charge for the first 4km is Rs 99 and thereafter Rs 12 for every kilometre.

Passengers welcomed the inclusion of yellow taxis on the Ola platform because of the low pricing.

Sumita Mukherjee, who works at a private firm on Ganesh Chandra Avenue, said she paid Rs 440 for a 9km ride from Shibpur to Chandni Chowk in an Ola sedan on Friday. "It was running at 2.2 times surcharge. If I had got a taxi through the app, it would have been something around Rs 150."

The taxis in the Ola fleet will not have any Ola sticker on them. And they can operate as normal taxis (outside the Ola platform) if the driver switches off his smartphone.

On Friday evening, Ola kicked off the service with 1,000-odd yellow Ambassadors and blue-and-white Swift Dzires and Amabassadors (AC and Non-AC). All the drivers were given smartphones.

Anand Subramanian, senior director, marketing communications, Ola, said the Ola Taxi would be cheaper in the absence of enhanced surcharges and service taxes. But he said the company could do little if a driver refused to ply to a certain area or took another passenger on the way while a person who has booked the cab through the app kept waiting.

"In such cases, we request the passengers to cancel the booking and make a fresh request while giving us a negative feedback on the driver," Subramanian said. "We will haul up each driver who gets a negative feedback or poor rating... on receiving multiple complaints we may suspend him from our fleet."