Uber India plans to expand footprint, take auto rental business global

Plans to innovate auto service products in India and replicate them in emerging markets

Buoyed by the success in the uptake of auto-ridership during the pandemic, Uber India is refocusing its strategy by expanding this to all cities it serves with taxis.

It is also looking at replicating its auto-rental business model, which it launched in India recently, in other emerging countries in a big way.

Of the 89 cities in which Uber is currently present and operates, 38 offer Uber Auto —the latest editions being Agartala, Vizag, Vijaywada, Lucknow, Gwalior, Jabalpur, etc, said Prabhjeet Singh, president, Uber (India and South Asia), in his first interview after taking over.

“Our aim is to speed up implementation so that we have auto services in every city that we operate in. We are adding new cities,” Singh said, pointing out that the uptake of autos had been 80-100 per cent of pre-pandemic levels already.

In emerging markets, Uber has decided to relaunch Uber Auto. This will shortly be in Bangladesh, where 90 per cent of its autos would be made in India. It is also planning to expand its presence in West Asia, Nigeria, and Egypt. 

Prabhjeet Singh, President, Uber India and South Asia

The game plan in India is to innovate auto service products, which can be replicated in other global emerging markets, such as auto rental, under which consumers can hire an auto for multiple routes based on the number of hours. The product has been launched in six cities includingDelhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.  

The auto business, according to an Uber India study, has shown that auto driver earnings go up as they experience higher utilisation of their vehicles by 15-20 per cent on the platform due to more trips during non-peak hours. It has also reduced the uncertainty of street hail earnings during the pandemic.  

On the overall business scenario, Singh said the uptake in ridership had been much better than the firm had anticipated after lockdown was eased and the company was sticking to its plan to reach 200 cities.

However, the target would take much longer than what was earlier targeted for the end of 2020 due to the adverse impact of the pandemic.

“From the feedback we get from driver partners, we see that people are willing to step out and use a ride share. We are expecting that airport travel and leisure travel, which were slower, will get a boost during the festival season,” said Singh.

As part of that plan, Uber is entering Jabalpur and Gwalior on Tuesday with both taxis and auto-share services. Before October, the focus of the company was to relaunch the business after the shutdown. It has added two cities — Gorakhpur and Agartala —and will launch two more on Tuesday.      

Singh said safety was a key driver in the business. So Uber has put in 100,000 safety screens in its cars and autos, separating the driver from the rider.

He said the pandemic had helped the company to launch products, which helped drivers earn at a time when ridership was low.

One such innovation has been Uber Connect, which offers delivery of packages is live in over 27 cities across the country.