Ride-hailing in India bounces back to 63% of pre-Covid levels: Report

Hit hard by the pandemic last year, the mobility sector in India has recovered 63 per cent with overall 71 million rides (by January), and autos and bike taxis have shown the highest recovery, a new report said on Monday.

The ride-hailing platforms, however, are yet to reach the pre-covid levels when they registered 113 million rides, according to Bengaluru-based consulting firm RedSeer.

"With 71 million rides, the sector has recovered 63 per cent but is still lesser compared to 113 million rides in the pre-Covid days. All the segments have shown gradual recovery with normalcy and unlock resuming," said Sanjay Kothari, engagement manager, RedSeer.

With the impact of Covid-19, the sector saw a significant drop in usage last year as offices began remote work culture and most of the educational and other places closed for months.

The pandemic forced ride-hailing platforms like Uber and Ola put a sudden brake on their plans, including significantly reducing their workforce.

"However, with things starting up, mobility has been on the recovery phase for the last few months now," Kothari added.

Among all the segments, autos and bike taxis have recovered the highest, clocking 23 million rides and 12 million rides, respectively.

"However, it has still not recovered completely as compared to the pre-Covid days. The trend is inevitable as autos and bike taxis lower the risk of contracting the virus as per the medical research," Kothari added.

Metros continue to recover faster than non-metros.

Kolkata has witnessed the highest recovery so far with more than 80 per cent, while Mumbai and Delhi are second with over 50 per cent.

Pune has seen high (month-on-month) growth due to the low base of number of bookings.

Mobility operations are gradually resuming in the rest of the country.

"As cities return to normalcy, the sector will see a gradual recovery as the main segment that is the working professionals continue remote work," the report mentioned.