Uber India Pilots In-App Digital Tasks for Drivers, Expanding Income Streams Beyond Rides

Uber has introduced a new pilot program in India that allows its driver partners to earn money by completing digital tasks directly within the Uber app. Piloted across 12 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, as well as smaller markets like Pune, Jaipur, Bhopal, and Vizag, the initiative aims to expand drivers’ earning options beyond ridesharing.

Drivers can now earn extra by completing micro tasks on the Uber app, like tagging objects in photos, for the company’s data-labelling platform, Uber AI Solutions, in addition to tasks like classifying short text, counting objects, and digitizing receipts, all key components of building artificial intelligence models.

Until now, such work was usually outsourced to independent contractors outside the Uber ecosystem. By bringing it into the driver app, Uber is offering drivers an additional stream of income, especially during downtimes when ride demand is low.

“This pilot is about giving drivers more choice, flexibility, and ways to earn,” said Megha Yethadka, Global Head, Uber AI Solutions. “Drivers can face downtime at certain times of the day, and digital tasks offer a way to make that time productive. Early engagement has been strong, with many thousands of tasks already completed.”

Uber AI Solutions works with global companies to deliver services like data labelling, localisation, and product testing which are the building blocks of high-performing AI systems. If successful, the India pilot may become a template for similar initiatives worldwide, giving Uber’s vast network of drivers and delivery partners a role in the fast-growing AI economy.

Uber Partners Startup India and Nasscom AI To Launch ‘Uber Sustainovate’ Startup Challenge

Uber’s push for innovation in sustainable mobility, rolls out ‘Uber Sustainovate’ Startup challenge

• Partners with Start-Up India and nasscom AI to enable innovators
• Calls for entries from startups to create innovative solutions
• Winning team to be awarded a grant of $120,000 (~ Rs 1 crore)

Uber today announced 'Uber Sustainovate’, a Startup Challenge looking for innovative solutions to fast track the adoption of sustainable mobility in India. The competition, in partnership with Startup India and nasscom AI, is designed to award startups that produce the best workable ideas that would help accelerate the transition to sustainable mobility in the country. The winning startup would be awarded a grant of $120,000 (approximately Rs 1 crore), and the top 3 entries would be awarded mentorship sessions with the tech leadership of Uber in India in order to help them sharpen their skills and competencies.

As the leading ridesharing company, Uber is committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040 and has been continuously working to reduce tailpipe emissions. With the aim to promote an ecosystem where startups are incentivised to work on emergence of sustainable solutions, Uber Sustainovate will provide a platform for visionary startups that are eager to turn their ambition to action.

Commenting on the startup challenge, Manikandan Thangarathnam, Senior Director of Engineering, and Site Lead for Bangalore, Uber said, “We have always believed that the energy transition in the mobility sector can only succeed if industry and technology work together. Startups can be the source of new and path-breaking solutions given the tech talent density that exists in India. Uber Sustainovate is our way to ignite these possibilities as we work together towards building sustainable mobility solutions for India and from India.”

Participating startups would have the option to choose from one of the following four tracks to focus their ideas on:

• Smart infrastructure and charging solutions
• Easy discovery of charging infra - better interoperability
• Making the economics more viable for drivers/commercial fleet owners
• Improving asset utilisation

The startup challenge is open for entries up to 18th October 2023. Registration will be followed by multiple rounds of shortlisting, based on overarching ideas, proof of concept, working prototypes, and overall alignment with Uber’s sustainability mission and values. The winner will be announced in January 2024, after a final jury round.

Startups passionate about driving change in the mobility sector are encouraged to register online through this link. Detailed guidelines and submission requirements will be provided to facilitate seamless participation.

Uber Inks MoU with Indian Navy To Offer Official Travel and Commute of Naval Officers, Staff, and Families

CNS Admiral R Hari Kumar with Abhinav Mittoo, Country GM, Uber

Uber, India’s leading ridesharing app has partnered with the Indian Navy to become its exclusive mobility partner to offer transportation solutions for official travel and commute of naval officers, staff, and families across the country. This partnership will deliver reliable, convenient, and safe mobility solutions to the esteemed Indian Navy officers, staff and their families.

Through this partnership, the Indian Navy will seamlessly integrate Uber’s advanced ride-sharing technology via a seamless platform - Uber for Business into the Naval ecosystem. The partnership will help streamline the travel experiences of the Naval workforce, making their travel smoother and the process more efficient. As part of this collaboration, Uber aims to drive effective change management for both official travel and commute and also bring curated enterprise benefits for the Indian Navy.

Speaking at the MoU signing, Abhinav Mittoo, Sr. Country Manager, Uber for Business, Uber India, South Asia & Egypt said, “We are proud to partner with the Indian Navy that has truly embraced digitalization. This partnership signals an important stride towards digitalization as we embrace shared mobility options. Through this MoU, we aim to contribute to the Indian Navy’s larger vision of embracing technology for transformative change.”

Commodore Neeraj Malhotra with Abhinav Mittoo, Country GM, Uber for Business

CNS Admiral, R Hari Kumar, Indian Navy said, “This partnership originated from a need to find a solution and help officers and their families for their travel requirements, and avail the benefit from the IT revolution and digitization in the country. Uber has revolutionized travel and stands for comfort, reach, and reliability today. This MoU holds great promise and represents a significant milestone in our sustained efforts towards ensuring 'Happy Personnel.' This is a crucial element of the SHIPS FIRST approach, adopted by the Navy, keeping the needs of our operational platforms first - every time and everywhere. In that regard, I am glad to note that the MoU covers not only the men and women in whites but also their dependents. I am also told that the dedicated account for Indian Naval personnel would have additional benefits such as zero cancellation fees, special vehicle category, and premium customer support, amongst many others. We will look to further extend this association to our veterans and sister services and believe that Uber’s large pool of green vehicles will reduce carbon footprint and make travel seamless.”

This collaboration between Uber and the Indian Navy highlights the power of Uber for Business in delivering unique transformative solutions tailored to enterprise needs. Uber’s proven success story in the US, where it partnered with the federal government to offer transportation services, reinforces its expertise in seamlessly integrating rideshare services into daily operations.

About Uber for Business

Uber for Business brings the best of Uber’s innovations and solutions to organizations around the globe with a seamless platform built to help them better support and engage those they employ and serve. With global scale, integrated solutions and exceptional service, Uber for Business empowers organizations to effortlessly streamline business travel, reimagine employee wellbeing, and elevate the customer experience – all while enabling employees to effortlessly leverage the Uber they love and trust in their professional lives. Since launching in 2014, Uber for Business has scaled to 70+ countries and 10,000 cities, and helped 170,000 organizations bring flexibility and efficiency into their operations while improving employee wellbeing. For more, visit our website.

Uber’s India Tech Team Boosts Platform Safety, Clocks in More Trips and Orders

New feature helps add 3.5 million trips and orders in 2023

Uber today said its India-based Risk Product and Engineering team has enhanced its state-of-the-art framework to verify genuine users on the Uber platform without compromising on their app experience.

The primary goal of the framework is to enhance platform security by proactively identifying and stopping potentially malicious activity, all while ensuring that genuine users are not inconvenienced. Oftentimes, genuine users find themselves unintentionally blocked by these security measures, even though the intention is to make the platform safer for them.

The ‘challenge framework’, based on a rule engine, helps identify users with malicious intent swiftly, thereby increasing security on the platform for millions of people transacting on it by the day. The challenges are self-resolvable verification processes taken while a user tries to transact on the platform - book a trip or place an order. Through these simple challenges, Uber has been able to keep fraudulent activities at bay while letting genuine users have a seamless trip or order experience.

The intervention resulted in an incremental 3.5 million trips and orders within 2023, by allowing over 600,000 riders, eaters and merchants to get their accounts unblocked through simple challenges.

Keeping challenges easy, in the form of card scans, address verification, verifying CVV codes, makes sure genuine users don’t get impacted by harsher actions such as account bans even as malicious booking attempts are blocked. Additionally, this team also enriched the framework to present contextual information to users along with challenges and other self-resolvable options enabling them to proceed with their trip or order. To strengthen this framework further, the team also built feedback loops as a way to continuously learn and improve from these user interactions.

Commenting on the framework, Deepak Kumar, Head of Risk Engineering, Uber India, said, “Our intent is to find the perfect balance between making the platform safer and improving the trip or order experience for all our genuine users across the world, by making the app easier to use. The latest upgrades to the engine made by the India teams do exactly that, and are a fine example of the immense tech talent housed here.”

In order to roll out these challenges across geographies, Uber ran an A/B testing exercise to replace harsher actions (example: denying a trip or order) with easy ‘challenges’ to help users verify their payment methods, and continue to use the platform. The aim of this exercise was to reduce the complications for users when it comes to verifying their transactions, and measure the increase in engagement as a result. These experiments resulted in an improved app experience, which translated into a rise in trips/orders for over 50% for the users who were part of the experiment.

This verification feature is now being rolled out to Uber users globally, including riders, eaters, merchants and earners.

The development process was worked on by a team of engineers, data scientists, product and program managers, all based out of India. India houses the two largest tech centers for Uber outside the US, and is responsible for some of the leading global innovations in ridesharing, freight and food delivery. 

Uber’s mission is to create opportunity through movement. We started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get access to a ride at the touch of a button? More than 10 billion trips later, we're building products to get people closer to where they want to be. By changing how people, food, and things move through cities, Uber is a platform that opens up the world to new possibilities.

Uber Appoints Ex- Coinbase, Prosus Group Director Arnab Kumar as Director of Business Development for India and South Asia

Uber, India’s leading ridesharing app, has announced the appointment of Arnab Kumar as Director of Business Development for India and South Asia.

Arnab joins Uber with over 17 years of experience across technology and financial services sectors. Arnab’s professional journey includes building the India operations for Coinbase and leading India fintech investments and strategic initiatives for Prosus (formerly known as Naspers). Arnab has previously served as Program Director at NITI Aayog where he contributed to the development of emerging technology initiatives including Aarogya Setu, India’s COVID contact tracing app. Arnab has also worked as an investment banker for Deutsche Bank in Singapore and New York. Arnab is an alumnus of Birla Institute of Technology Mesra and Indian School of Business Hyderabad and is a CFA charterholder.

Commenting on the appointment, Prabhjeet Singh, President, Uber India and South Asia, said, “We are delighted to have Arnab join our leadership team to strengthen Uber’s presence and ensure Uber’s ongoing success in India and South Asia. He has a strong track record of working across financial services and technology sectors. During his work at NITI Aayog he delivered impact and change at scale. Under his leadership, our business development team will continue to be a key accelerant for our partnerships and new growth opportunities.”

“I am excited to join Uber, which has transformed the way people move while creating earning opportunities for millions of people in India and across the region. India and South Asia present tremendous growth potential and I look forward to joining forces with the incredibly talented team at Uber and supporting the company’s growth ambitions in this important region.” said Arnab Kumar, Director, Business Development, Uber India and South Asia. 

Arnab’s appointment comes as the company completes a decade of operations in India and is focused on growing sustainable mobility options. With a partnership approach to different stakeholders in the value chain like EV fleets, financiers, EV infrastructure providers and government bodies, Uber has been at the forefront of EV transition in India. Earlier this year, in the largest EV commitment yet between an automaker and a ridesharing platform in India, Tata Motors agreed to supply 25,000 EVs to fleets on the Uber platform.

About Uber

Uber’s mission is to create opportunity through movement. We started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get access to a ride at the touch of a button? More than 10 billion trips later, we're building products to get people closer to where they want to be. Uber is available across 125 cities in India where people can book a ride on our app across two, three and four-wheel products designed for their intra-city and intercity travel needs. By changing how people, food, and things move through cities, Uber is a platform that opens up the world to new possibilities.

Uber Offers Free Rides worth Rs 75 Lakh to Delhi govt for Healthcare Workers, Non-COVID Patients

Uber on Friday offered free rides worth Rs 75 lakh to the Delhi government for transporting frontline healthcare workers, government officials on COVID-19 related duties and for other essential services.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind  Kejriwal acknowledged the offer in a tweet. 

"Thank you for your support for Delhi's healthcare workers. It is heartening to see so many organizations pitching in to help fight Corona," he tweeted.

As part of its offer, the ride hailing firm has partnered with the government to deploy 200 UberMedic cars, free of charge, to transport non-COVID-19 patients in coordination with the Centralised Ambulance Trauma Services (CATS) helpline, it said in a statement.

The partnership with the Delhi government is part of Uber's global commitment to provide 10 million rides and food deliveries free of charge, recently announced by CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

"The Delhi Government has been working tirelessly to contain the spread of COVID-19. We feel privileged to be supporting the Delhi government in these challenging times and stand ready to provide essential services to help move what matters by leveraging our global experience, technology and network of drivers," Uber India and South Asia Director Operations and Head of Cities Prabhjeet Singh said.

The company said all the UberMedic cars being provided to Delhi government are being fitted with a roof-to-floor plastic sheeting enclosing the driver, thereby limiting contact with the rider.

Additionally, to maintain safety and hygiene standards, all drivers are being trained in safety procedures and being provided with personal protective equipment such as masks, gloves, sanitizers and disinfectants to sanitise the cars between rides.

Uber's recently launched UberMedic service is already facilitating the provision of transporting frontline medical workers in 28 hospitals across 14 Indian cities. PTI SR VIT

Uber Partners Medlife to Deliver Medicines in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow and Pune

Ride-hailing platform Uber on Friday said it has partnered with online health platform Medlife to provide residents across Kolkata, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow and Pune access to prescription and over-the-counter medicines amid the ongoing national lockdown.

Uber had previously partnered Flipkart, BigBasket and Spencer's Retail to make deliveries on behalf of these players.

"We are pleased to announce our partnership with Medlife, our first with an online pharmacy platform, to support last mile delivery of prescription and other medicines. During these challenging times, we are committed to the well-being of our communities and to ensure they stay healthy and safe.

"Through this service, we continue to provide earning opportunities for drivers," Uber India General Manager (North India) Shiva Shailendran said in a statement.

In line with government guidelines and to maintain safety and hygiene levels for containing the spread of COVID-19, all drivers associated with this service are being provided masks, gloves, sanitisers and safety training, the statement added.

"Our aim is to ensure timely and hassle-free delivery of all essential medical supplies to our customers...We will work with them (Uber) across multiple cities and hope to bridge the gap between demand and supply at the earliest," Medlife Head of Supply Chain Management Manish Garg said.

With the implementation of the lockdown across the country, the government has allowed only people in essential services like healthcare, banking and media to commute. Restricted mobility had left driver-partners of cab services like Ola and Uber with no source of income.

Since then, both Ola and Uber have undertake various measures to provide various relief measures to driver-partners. These platforms are already providing services in various locations in partnership with state governments to provide commute facilities to hospitals, among others.

Other digital platforms have also added features to tide over the situation.

Housejoy, a tech-driven construction, interiors and home maintenance company, has launched 'Housejoy Mart' for delivery of essential items. Currently active in Bengaluru, Housejoy Mart will help deliver groceries, vegetables and other essential items to customers.

Similarly, healthcare platform cure.fit has added a range of grocery essentials in its portfolio. With nearly 40 SKUs across various categories, the company is providing delivery slots within 24 hours of order placement and is working closely with the brand partners like Saffola (Marico), MTR, Britannia, Pillsbury (General Mills), Ashirwad (ITC), MDH and 24 Mantra among others.

Cure.fit is currently providing this service across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Delhi, and is planning to foray to Mumbai soon. PTI SR BAL

Uber Launches ‘Uber Essential' to Facilitate Travel to Hospitals, Pharmacies

Ride-hailing major Uber on Tuesday said the 'Essential' category on its platform is facilitating travel to locations like hospitals and pharmacies in Bengaluru, Nashik, Gurgaon, and Hyderabad amid the nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19.

"With the full consent of authorities, this limited mobility solution has been providing efficient and reliable transportation for riders to essential service locations such as hospitals and pharmacies, as permitted and approved by local authorities," Uber said in a statement.

All riders on Uber Essential are mandated to carry relevant documentation to validate their purpose of travel to authorities, it added.

With the implementation of the lockdown across the country to contain the spread of COVID-19, the government has allowed only people in essential services like healthcare, banking and media to commute.

With the extension in the lockdown period, such services will be beneficial for people who need to travel to hospitals for checkups.

"Through Uber Essential, we are selectively offering rides for essential services only to cater to crucial travel requirements in select cities. Amidst the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, we are leveraging our technology and network of driver-partners to enable citizens to access essential services, while simultaneously also helping authorities contain the spread of COVID-19," Uber India and South Asia Director-Operations and Head of Cities Prabhjeet Singh said.

Uber said 'Essential' driver-partners are being provided masks, gloves, sanitizers, and safety training.

"They are also being issued curfew passes by local law enforcement authorities to ensure seamless movement to essential service locations," the statement said.

Uber Essential riders will receive reminders through in-app messages and emails about basic steps they can take to help prevent the spread of the virus. Riders in these cities can open the app to check the availability of UberEssential in their area and accessible locations nearby.

The app, it said, has been designed to facilitate urgent travel needs to essential service areas only and has been live for the past few days.

Uber's rival Ola has a similar service - Ola Emergency - that is operational in Gurugram, Bengaluru, Vizag, Bhubaneshwar, Nashik and Varanasi.

The service, which is aimed at enabling medical trips that do not require an ambulance, will be expanded to other major cities soon, Ola had said. PTI SR

Uber Brings Tipping Feature for Driver-Partners in India

Uber has introduced the in-app tipping in India to help its driver-partners increase their earnings from the platform, a feature that the ride-hailing platform had introduced in the US over two years ago.

According to sources, the US-based ride hailing platform started piloting the feature in India in Mumbai two months ago and has now rolled out across more than 50 cities.

The feature - currently available to riders paying through Paytm wallet - will be available for rides taken in cabs, autos and bikes (UberMoto) on the platform, they added.

One of the persons said during the pilot phase, it was found that riders had tipped Rs 25 on an average.

When contacted, Uber India South Asia head of city operations Prabhjeet Singh said: "Driver partners are at the heart of everything we do at Uber and we are always looking for opportunities to showcase both respect and greater appreciation for them".

"Every year riders in India reward hundreds of thousands of driver partners with 5-star ratings. Uber's new tipping feature now enables them to also say thanks to driver partners who deliver exceptional service," he said in an e-mailed statement.

After the completion of a ride, passengers paying through Paytm wallet are given the option to tip the driver-partner. The four options shown are Rs 25, 50, 100 and 'enter custom amount'.

Driver-partners keep 100 per cent of the tips for rides. Riders can go back to previous trips on the app to add a tip.

Ride-hailing platforms like Uber and Ola charge the driver-partner a commission on the trip fare, while offering certain incentives to drive for the platform. There have been reports of driver-partners quitting these platforms as incentives have dwindled over time.

Uber and its rival, Ola have pumped in millions of dollars into marketing and promotions, offering incentives for driver partners as well as subsidising trips for riders. PTI SR

Uber to Roll Out PIN verification, RideCheck for Enhanced User Safety

Ride hailing platform Uber on Thursday said it will roll out new safety features, including a PIN verification for starting trips and RideCheck for long, unexpected stops, for users in India.

Interestingly, Uber's rival Ola already offer some of these features on its platform. It launched the OTP feature in 2017, while Ola Guardian feature was launched in September 2018 and recently in over 16 cities globally.

Through 'Guardian', Ola tracks all on-going trips by analysing ride indicators like route deviations, unexpected and midway stops. Based on the indicators and time of travel, Ola's Safety Response Team (SRT) provides assistance to customers.

Under the PIN verification feature, Uber users will receive a four-digit code when they book a ride that is to be shared with the driver partner to start the ride. Users will have to activate the feature in the app's setting.

Uber Senior Director of Global Safety Products Sachin Kansal said the feature is under pilot and should be rolled out to users in the next few weeks.

"In addition to the PIN, we are also working on advanced technologies that will feature ultrasound waves to automatically transmit the PIN for verifying rides," he added.

The RideCheck feature will enable Uber to flag certain trip irregularities, like long, unexpected stops or midway drops that might, in some rare cases, indicate an increased safety risk, especially for women.

"If an anomaly is detected, Uber will initiate a RideCheck by reaching out to both the rider and the driver through a push notification," Kansal said.

He added that the feature is being rolled out and will be available to all users in the country over the next two weeks. Also, a pilot is being run in Delhi and Kolkata to see if riders would prefer a call over a push notification, Kansal said.

Talking about the audio recording feature, he said both riders and driver partners can record audio during the ride.

"This audio is encrypted and can only be either deleted or shared with Uber. Neither party will be able to hear the recording. Once shared, the audio can help our agents better understand the issue and resolve them," he said.

The feature is currently in pilot in Mexico and Brazil, and Uber will look at testing it in the Indian market later this year.

Kansal said privacy is an important aspect and Uber will ensure compliance with local laws.

"Over the last three years, we have introduced several features to enhance safety standards on our platform. We have been piloting and refining these features in different markets globally to ensure that they work for riders and driver partners," Kansal said. PTI SR

Indian Govt to Mandate Cab Firms like Uber, Ola to Electrify 40% of their Fleet by 2026

In a push to achieve its goal of becoming electric-only roads country by 2030, government of India is planning to mandate cab aggregators such Uber and Ola to convert 40% of their fleet of cars to electric by April 2026, reported several media outlets mentioining the records of government meetings to discuss new rules for clean mobility.

The move comes as India looks to cut the country's dependence on oil imports and bring down air pollution to abide by its commitment as part of the 2015 Paris climate change treaty.

Uber and Ola, which are both backed by Japan's Softbank Group, would need to start converting their fleet as early as next year to reach mere 2.5% electrification of their fleet by 2021, 5% by 2022, 10% by 2023 before finally accomplishing the target of 40%, according to the person and the records reviewed by Reuters.

Homegrown firm Ola has already established its Electric Vehicle (EV) unit in 2017 called Ola Electric Mobility Pvt Ltd (Ola Electric), which has recently got Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, as its latest backer as he invested undisclosed amount in the company in last month.

In November 2017, Uber tied up with Mahindra & Mahindra to explore deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) on the cab aggregator's platform in several cities across India.

India's policy maker, Niti Aayog, which is chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is said to be working with several ministries on the EV policy. The recommendations will eventually become a formal policy, with or without changes, subject to approval by the federal government, the source said, adding the idea is to "push electrification through public transport."

In addition, Niti Aayog has also proposed that two-wheelers sold for commercial purposes, like food delivery or for use by e-commerce companies, will also need to be electric from April 2023.

Besides vehicles, India is also considering battery industry, which is at core of EVs. Last September, the PMO had sought reworking of a proposal to offer incentives of as much as $759 million (₹5,500 crore), which will mostly be use to encourage local manufacturing of lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries used in EVs. Earlier, the draft had proposed incentives for EVs only and not for batteries.

Notably, a recent study by IQAir AirVisual and Greenpeace has identified the cities around the world where air pollution is highest and 7 of the top 10 most polluted cities in the world are in India, which makes India's job more tougher. In 2018, city of New Delhi had average air pollution levels more than 13 times the level permitted under WHO guidelines.

Uber to Make India Its 'Laboratory of the World'; To Incubate Startups that Help Solve Mobility and Transport Problems

US-based cab hailing company Uber is considering a plan to incubate startups in India that will help in solving mobility and transport problems as part of its strategy to turn India into a laboratory of the world, for global research and development (R&D).

Additionally, the world's most valuable company with valuation of $75+ billion, Uber is also all set to make India the global capital of its research & development (R&D) activities. With 10 R&D centres across the world, Uber's India R&D unit is only one in Asia.

For its R&D centres at Hyderabad and Bengaluru, Uber will double the counts of its engineering team by next year.

Apurva Dalal, head of engineering, Uber India, said in a statement to Business Standard, “We want to find the best talent in an innovative way to solve the problems of mobility and transportation. We are definitely considering incubating many start-ups within Uber in the future and have some kind of incubation model. We are looking at doubling our R&D team in 2019 and this could be in the thousands,” said

To solve mobility and transportation problems of both India and other countries, Uber was trying to create ‘R&D muscle’ in India to make it the laboratory of the world, with charters to solve global as well as emerging market problems.

As part of this strategy, Apurva said that the company had been reasonably successful in persuading Indians in the US to come back and work in India.

One of the disruptive innovation which is product of UBer's R&D centres at Bengaluru and Hyderabad is 'Uber Lite', an app that is 85 % lighter than the original Uber app. Developed in India, Uber Lite is now catering to users in several emerging markets where there are connectivity issues and poor data rates, and where consumers mostly use low-end Android devices with limited storage.

According to a feedback data, in countries like India, Brazil, Mexico, and much of Africa, 70% of the sessions on Uber were happening on low-end Android phones. The Uber Lite app, first launched in India in July'18, is now being rolled out in 14 more countries in Latin America, Egypt, West Asia, and Africa.

To recall, in February this year, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was on India tour and during his visit he met several Indian government officials, regulators and the company employees. In his visit, Khosrowshahi met India’s Minister of State for Civil Aviation, and talked about possible partnerships between the Uber and India, including a flying car collaboration.

Uber was said to be working with 6-7 different vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft and sees big potential for flying taxis in India.

Regarding incubating and mentoring startups in India, Uber already has 'UberEXCHANGE', a startup mentorship & investment programme launched in 2016 in partnership with government of India's investment promotion agency Invest India. In last two years, over 150 startups have been mentored by Uber’s senior leadership team. However, incubation of Indian startups will be something new that company will bring to India.

According to Business Standard report, Uber is now testing a new service “call to ride”, which is also developed in India and is meant for consumers such as elderly people who do not want to use apps at all and want to pay in cash.

In this system, riders merely have to call Uber on the phone and give details of their location and what kind of car they want.

[Top Featured Image - Recode.net]

Uber To Bring Flying Taxi in India; CEO Khosrowshahi Met Aviation Minister

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was on India tour till yesterday and as earlier we reported that during his visit he will meet Indian government officials, regulators and company employees. Now the latest news is coming that Khosrowshahi had a meeting with Jayant Sinha, who's India’s Minister of State for Civil Aviation, and talked about possible partnerships between the Uber and India, including a flying car collaboration.

Khosrowshahi tweeted about the meeting with the minister on Thursday, saying the duo discussed both airport partnerships and what they deem is “the future of commercial air travel” -- flying vehicles.

Great meeting with the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, @jayantsinha, to discuss airport partnerships and future of commercial air travel in the form of flying cars. pic.twitter.com/4H7AOqDHNx

— dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) February 22, 2018

Notably, Uber is said to be working with 6-7 different vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft and sees big potential for flying taxis in India, especially cities such as Mumbai where cars can barely move during peak hours.

Moreover in last month, Mark Moore, who is Engineering Director of Aviation at Uber, told a business daily that for electric flying taxis Uber is talking with a lot of governments across the world and India makes a lot of sense, particularly in densely populated areas and Uber would love to work with Indian government for this.

Notably, for quite some time India's Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha is also advocating on flying taxis in India. Last month, he said that Indian aviation department department is actively discussing the concept of an “air rickshaw” or "Drone Rikshaw" to solve the issue of transportation in the country.

In December last year, while speaking at a tech conclave Mr.Sinha urged startups and tech-giants to explore the scope for developing 'drone-rickshaws' and electrical two-wheelers to address traffic problems and air pollution. He said the cost of travelling by air is Rs 4 per km, which is equivalent to travelling in an autorickshaw."We in the future are going to see Air Rickshaws. Drones that are powered by electric propulsion", he further added.

Uber, on other hand, has already working on initiative of flying-taxi fleet called uberAIR and in last November even announced a flying car partnership with NASA late last year, revealing it will start testing such solutions in 2020. The cab-hailing firm is already understood to be working on a prototype capable of carrying four passengers and flying at up to 200mph (322kmph). The taxi is planned to be tested at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport before its trials move to Los Angeles.

Additionally, it is to be noted that in order to improve India’s transportation system, Niti Aayog, which is Indian govt's think tank, has also working on Pod Taxi and for piloting the same it has shortlisted three Indian cities -- Varanasi, Nagpur, and Gurugram.

Uber To Bring Flying Taxi in India; CEO Khosrowshahi Met Aviation Minister

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi was on India tour till yesterday and as earlier we reported that during his visit he will meet Indian government officials, regulators and company employees. Now the latest news is coming that Khosrowshahi had a meeting with Jayant Sinha, who's India’s Minister of State for Civil Aviation, and talked about possible partnerships between the Uber and India, including a flying car collaboration.

Khosrowshahi tweeted about the meeting with the minister on Thursday, saying the duo discussed both airport partnerships and what they deem is “the future of commercial air travel” -- flying vehicles.

Great meeting with the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, @jayantsinha, to discuss airport partnerships and future of commercial air travel in the form of flying cars. pic.twitter.com/4H7AOqDHNx

— dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) February 22, 2018

Notably, Uber is said to be working with 6-7 different vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft and sees big potential for flying taxis in India, especially cities such as Mumbai where cars can barely move during peak hours.

Moreover in last month, Mark Moore, who is Engineering Director of Aviation at Uber, told a business daily that for electric flying taxis Uber is talking with a lot of governments across the world and India makes a lot of sense, particularly in densely populated areas and Uber would love to work with Indian government for this.

Notably, for quite some time India's Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha is also advocating on flying taxis in India. Last month, he said that Indian aviation department department is actively discussing the concept of an “air rickshaw” or "Drone Rikshaw" to solve the issue of transportation in the country.

In December last year, while speaking at a tech conclave Mr.Sinha urged startups and tech-giants to explore the scope for developing 'drone-rickshaws' and electrical two-wheelers to address traffic problems and air pollution. He said the cost of travelling by air is Rs 4 per km, which is equivalent to travelling in an autorickshaw."We in the future are going to see Air Rickshaws. Drones that are powered by electric propulsion", he further added.

Uber, on other hand, has already working on initiative of flying-taxi fleet called uberAIR and in last November even announced a flying car partnership with NASA late last year, revealing it will start testing such solutions in 2020. The cab-hailing firm is already understood to be working on a prototype capable of carrying four passengers and flying at up to 200mph (322kmph). The taxi is planned to be tested at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport before its trials move to Los Angeles.

Additionally, it is to be noted that in order to improve India’s transportation system, Niti Aayog, which is Indian govt's think tank, has also working on Pod Taxi and for piloting the same it has shortlisted three Indian cities -- Varanasi, Nagpur, and Gurugram.

Uber, Mahindra Ties-up To Deploy Electric Vehicles in India

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has tied up with with Uber to explore deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) on the cab aggregator's platform in several cities across India, the automaker said today.

The company, which has already tied up with Uber's Indian rival Ola to build an electric mass mobility ecosystem in Nagpur, will deploy "hundreds of electric vehicles in Delhi and Hyderabad" under the new partnership.

In May this year, with fleet of 200 electric vehicles, Mahindra partnered with Ola to help it launch Ola Electric in Nagpur.

Mahindra's electric vehicles on the Uber platform will include the e2oPlus hatch and the eVerito sedan.

The e2O Plus and the eVerito will be inducted into the Uber fleet by the beginning of March 2018.

"Our collaboration with Uber is an important next step to help accelerate the large scale adoption of electric vehicles on shared mobility platforms and meet the nation's vision for EVs," M&M Managing Director Pawan Goenka told reporters here.

As part of the arrangement, driver partners on the Uber app can avail of a package that will include Mahindra electric vehicles at competitive prices, attractive financing and insurance premiums as well as comprehensive maintenance packages from M&M and its associates.

Furthermore, to make this model durable, M&M and Uber will work closely with public and private players which are in the process of setting up a common use charging ecosystem across multiple locations in the cities.

The above development was first reported in MoneyControl.

Uber India Achieves 500 Million Rides Milestone, Hires 1,000 People

Global ride-hailing superpower Uber has achieved a major milestone in the Indian market. The company recently announced that it has successfully completed 500 million trips in the country since launching its services in India four years ago, in 2013.

These 500 million trips make a significant part of Uber's overall score of Six billion trips all around the globe since its launch in 2010.

Uber started in India by debuting its services in Bengaluru, a city which was suffering from decades long traffic situation. Soon the company gained momentum and spread its network all around the country and is currently available in 29 cities in India.

Sharing its success journey in the Indian ride-hailing market, Uber announced that it has witnessed a double digit growth in the country with second-largest population on Earth and has seen almost 2.5 times annual increase in business as of June this year.

According to Amit Jain, Uber’s President for India and South Asia, completing 500 million trips in India is a major landmark for the company. From starting with just 3 employees in 2013, the company has now grown to become a family of over 1000 employees.

While the company is jubilant about its 500 million trips feat in India, it is focused on bettering its performance in the country every year as it considers India as a ride-hailing market has a lot to offer.
According to Uber, it has over 450,000 registered driver partners in India till date.

The ride-hailing giant is currently working on giving birth to one million livelihood opportunities for micro-entrepreneurs in the Indian subcontinent by next years.

Clocking over five million weekly active riders in the country, India is one of the biggest markets for Uber, outside its home country US.

Uber's main rival in the Indian market is homegrown ride-hailing giant, Ola. However, according to a recent research by KalaGato Pte show, currently, Uber's share in India's cab aggregation market is more than Ola's.

The research data showed that US-based Uber has been able to grow its market share in the six months to June at 50 per cent, while its rival Ola Cabs has a share of 44.2 per cent.

The research also highlighted that during the six months period from January to June this year, the average number of rides per customer stood at 2.95 in case of Ola and 4.38 in case of Uber.

Uber's celebratory numbers in the Indian market are testimonial of the fact that the company has been able to make a place for itself in the Indian subcontinent, something which it wasn’t able to achieve in China. Last year, China’s local car-hailing giant Didi Chuxing drove US-based taxi-hailing giant Uber out of its home country. Didi had successfully managed to win a multibillion-dollar and a year-and-a-half-long battle with Uber last year where the giant agreed to sell its business and leave the country.

Uber India Achieves 500 Million Rides Milestone, Hires 1,000 People

Global ride-hailing superpower Uber has achieved a major milestone in the Indian market. The company recently announced that it has successfully completed 500 million trips in the country since launching its services in India four years ago, in 2013.

These 500 million trips make a significant part of Uber's overall score of Six billion trips all around the globe since its launch in 2010.

Uber started in India by debuting its services in Bengaluru, a city which was suffering from decades long traffic situation. Soon the company gained momentum and spread its network all around the country and is currently available in 29 cities in India.

Sharing its success journey in the Indian ride-hailing market, Uber announced that it has witnessed a double digit growth in the country with second-largest population on Earth and has seen almost 2.5 times annual increase in business as of June this year.

According to Amit Jain, Uber’s President for India and South Asia, completing 500 million trips in India is a major landmark for the company. From starting with just 3 employees in 2013, the company has now grown to become a family of over 1000 employees.

While the company is jubilant about its 500 million trips feat in India, it is focused on bettering its performance in the country every year as it considers India as a ride-hailing market has a lot to offer.
According to Uber, it has over 450,000 registered driver partners in India till date.

The ride-hailing giant is currently working on giving birth to one million livelihood opportunities for micro-entrepreneurs in the Indian subcontinent by next years.

Clocking over five million weekly active riders in the country, India is one of the biggest markets for Uber, outside its home country US.

Uber's main rival in the Indian market is homegrown ride-hailing giant, Ola. However, according to a recent research by KalaGato Pte show, currently, Uber's share in India's cab aggregation market is more than Ola's.

The research data showed that US-based Uber has been able to grow its market share in the six months to June at 50 per cent, while its rival Ola Cabs has a share of 44.2 per cent.

The research also highlighted that during the six months period from January to June this year, the average number of rides per customer stood at 2.95 in case of Ola and 4.38 in case of Uber.

Uber's celebratory numbers in the Indian market are testimonial of the fact that the company has been able to make a place for itself in the Indian subcontinent, something which it wasn’t able to achieve in China. Last year, China’s local car-hailing giant Didi Chuxing drove US-based taxi-hailing giant Uber out of its home country. Didi had successfully managed to win a multibillion-dollar and a year-and-a-half-long battle with Uber last year where the giant agreed to sell its business and leave the country.

Uber In Talks In India To Permit Commercial Use of Privately-Owned Cars

Global ride-hailing superpower Uber is focused on making it big it the Indian market. Recently, a company executive revealed that the company is holding talks with central and several state governments in order to pursue them to green light commercial use of private cars, which is currently illegal in the Indian subcontinent.

Speaking at the recently held Decongest India initiative event in New Delhi, Shweta Rajpal Kohli, the head of public policy at Uber India and South Asia said that the company is asking the government to provide at least a pilot of the project and then expand it depending on the outcome of the pilot.

Linking her company's thinking with the Decongest India initiative, Kohli said that country's capital city New Delhi alone has over one crore private cars that takeover the city's roads for a larger part of the day. She believes that commercialising use of private cars can help solve this problem to a greater affect.

Earlier in the month, a Reuters report had revealed that government policy think-tank Niti Aayog was in talks with Uber and other ride hailing companies "to assess the economic and environmental impact of using private cars as taxis".

Talking about the Decongest India initiative in particular, Kohli said that its San Francisco-headquartered company has decided to encourage more and more Indian population to avail its cab services over taking their personal car alone for a ride. The ride-hailing giant has also decided to educate people about using its pool services such as UberPool and UberMoto and making them aware of the advantages of using these pool services, both economical and environmental.

In order to encourage its pool services, Uber is considering incentivising riders to take UberPool and other pool services instead of hailing their private car service. Currently, in Delhi, one can avail an UberPool for 8km at as low as Rs. 49.

According to the company, their cars help in getting other cars off the road. Citing several studies, the company claims that every car that Uber adds to its fleet helps in taking about 9-13 cars off the road. It also revealed that UberPool accounts for more than 30 percent of all Uber rides in Delhi.

It is interesting to note that while Uber is banking heavily on UberPool for its Decongest India initiative plans, the Delhi government is currently contemplating banning them altogether as they have found these services in violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which restricts them from making a stop and allowing additional passengers to join in a point-to-point journey. Uber is said to be talks with the Delhi government and working out a way to solve the issue soon.

Uber Launches 'Exchange' To Fly 10 Indian Startups To San Francisco HQ

[caption id="attachment_103018" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick, with the PM Narendra Modi to discuss the future of urban mobility in India[/caption]

US-based cab hailing company Uber has announced its partnership with Invest India, an initiative under the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP). The partnership will provide mentorship for Indian entrepreneurs in the execution of their startup ideas.

"This public-private initiative will enable students, entrepreneurs and industry leaders to learn from each other," said the company in a release. Uber said it will also support the PM Modi’s vision to make India a global start-up hub.

Notably, Travis Kalanick, co-founder and CEO of Uber, is among the startup leaders who will be attending government's 'Start-up India' policy launch event on 16 January in New Delhi (more here).

Under its partnership with 'Invest India', Uber has decided to host a series of six leadership talks by senior company executives over the next one year. "Each session will address a different challenge that entrepreneurs face when founding their own company. For example, fundraising, product design, engineering and how to scale a business," the company said. At the end of the programme, the company intends to fly 10 startups to its headquarters in San Francisco, where the company will introduce them to global investors, fellow entrepreneurs and the team at Uber.

Startups in India can sign up for 'Uber Exchange' by sending an email to investindia@uber.com.

Uber Launches 'Exchange' To Fly 10 Indian Startups To San Francisco HQ

[caption id="attachment_103018" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick, with the PM Narendra Modi to discuss the future of urban mobility in India[/caption]

US-based cab hailing company Uber has announced its partnership with Invest India, an initiative under the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP). The partnership will provide mentorship for Indian entrepreneurs in the execution of their startup ideas.

"This public-private initiative will enable students, entrepreneurs and industry leaders to learn from each other," said the company in a release. Uber said it will also support the PM Modi’s vision to make India a global start-up hub.

Notably, Travis Kalanick, co-founder and CEO of Uber, is among the startup leaders who will be attending government's 'Start-up India' policy launch event on 16 January in New Delhi (more here).

Under its partnership with 'Invest India', Uber has decided to host a series of six leadership talks by senior company executives over the next one year. "Each session will address a different challenge that entrepreneurs face when founding their own company. For example, fundraising, product design, engineering and how to scale a business," the company said. At the end of the programme, the company intends to fly 10 startups to its headquarters in San Francisco, where the company will introduce them to global investors, fellow entrepreneurs and the team at Uber.

Startups in India can sign up for 'Uber Exchange' by sending an email to investindia@uber.com.