Drivers working for 6 hrs a day earn up to Rs 2,500: Uber

There have been agitations by drivers on issues like fall in earnings and incentives offered to them

Blaming "small number of individuals" for recent service disruptions, ride-hailing firm Uber on Friday said the drivers who log in for six hours or more are still making around Rs 1,500-2,500 a day.

Over the last few weeks, there have been agitations by drivers of both Ola and Uber, particularly on issues like fall in earnings and incentives offered to them.

"Small number of individuals, who do not represent the majority of the driver community, have been preventing drivers who want to work from doing so," Uber India President Amit Jain on Friday said in a blogpost.

He added that the US-based firm has been communicating daily with drivers through phone support, text and video messages and in-person at Uber's greenlight centres.

Highlighting that driving using the Uber App is very different to working as a private driver/taxi driver, Jain said individual driver's earnings vary widely depending on where, when and how much they chose to drive.

"Earnings are not one size fits all... Currently, 80 per cent of drivers across India who are online for more than six hours a day make between Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,500 net, after Uber's service fee," he added.

Apart from the fares paid by riders, these companies also offer incentives upon hitting a certain number of trips.

"These incentives vary widely by individual drivers. They are dynamic, as is our business model, and we are constantly seeking to understand, assess and improve both earnings from fares and our incentives structure," Jain said.

Conceding that driver earnings have evolved over time and that "some drivers do earn less than three years ago", Jain said the earnings in India are attractive for the majority even after reductions in incentives and drivers' costs are taken into account.

"We are watching carefully to ensure drivers do not get into difficulty with vehicle financing, especially after the recent violence and intimidation which prevented many partners from using the app," he said.

Typically, Uber rolls out incentives when it introduces its service in new cities.

With demand growing from both riders and drivers, these perks are brought down to ensure a 'more sustainable business model'.

The company reportedly saw 60 per cent year-on-year increase in driver sign-ups in January 2017.