Testing driver subscription model in India, says Uber's Dominic Taylor

One thing that I have learnt about India is that it doesn't stay still for long, it evolves and changes every time. India is an incredibly important country

Dominic Taylor, Regional General Manager – Rides, Uber, believes India is a vital part of Uber’s growth story. In an interview with Shivani Shinde, on the sidelines of its flagship event Pragati in Mumbai, he talks about the Indian market, the regulatory environment, autonomous vehicles, and much more. Edited excerpts...

 

How significant is India in Uber’s global footprint?

 

One thing that I have learned about India is that it doesn't stay still for long; it evolves and changes every time. India is an incredibly important country. Globally, we are now in 70 countries, and India is the third largest. From a trip perspective, India is behind the US and Brazil. It’s the second largest in terms of the number of earners who generate income through our platform.

 

The sheer scale makes India a critical market. What amplifies its importance globally is the pace of growth. Every month, millions of new riders join the platform. That’s also because we keep innovating to reach more segments of the population.

 

If we had stuck only with cars, we would have been irrelevant to much of the country. That’s why we’ve expanded into auto rickshaws, motorbikes, and now buses. Finally, our engineering teams in Hyderabad and Bengaluru — the largest outside the US — are a cornerstone of our India story. 

 

Competition is fierce in the mobility space in India, with newer players coming in. What are some of the growth drivers for Uber?

 

There is no doubt that competition in India is absolutely fierce. Whether it’s core categories, intercity, or airport rides, we face both local and global rivals.

 

Among consumers in my region, Indian users are the most discerning. They will switch if they don’t get the experience they expect. So, unless we consistently show up with the right cars, at the right time, priced fairly, we risk becoming irrelevant very quickly.

 

We’re also seeing rider growth beyond the big cities, driven by demand for lower-cost options. There’s a large population that hasn’t been served by digital platforms historically.

 

On the earner side, there’s strong interest from across the country to make money on the platform. Many drivers work across multiple platforms — and that’s okay. But we are proud to provide a reliable, independent source of income.

 

With regards to earners, what we're seeing is that there is a really strong interest from earners to make money right across pan-India. So they are certainly spoiled for choice, and many drivers will be part of many different platforms. But ultimately, we are providing a very solid independent source of income. 

 

Uber primarily runs on a commission-based model. Newer players like Rapido have adopted a subscription model for driver partners. Will Uber consider switching? Drivers say they’re moving due to high commissions.

 

There are new models emerging in the market. We have seen this model in Australia, where you pay an upfront fee for the week and then you're able to get the earnings. It’s essentially the same as a service fee, just structured differently.

 

What’s interesting is the psychological element — when drivers pay upfront, they don’t perceive the ongoing deductions the same way.

 

We are open to looking at alternatives from a business model perspective. We are testing the driver subscription model in a number of Indian cities today. There are elements that work really well, and it certainly helps drivers comprehend it easily and understand that from a zero service model. But there are other elements and issues, and over the next few months, we'll continue to work out what's the right model for Uber here.

 

The Centre introduced the Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines (MVAG) 2025, but states can still set their own rules. How does this impact Uber?

 

It’s a complex regulatory landscape. That’s true globally. But our commitment is clear — we work with governments at every level, local or national, to ensure we’re compliant. Beyond that, we want to proactively help shape high-quality regulations that prioritize a safe, positive experience for consumers.

 

I’ve been involved in similar regulatory conversations in Australia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. I know that India adds another layer of complexity — some states have different approaches — and I may not be across the specifics of each one. But my message to our India team is clear: keep engaging with all states constructively.

 

The recent Motor Vehicle Aggregator Guidelines put a lot of onus on the platforms, such as driver verification, training, insurance, safety, etc. How do you see that?

 

I have been involved in a number of regulatory processes around the world. It is a smart thing that the onus is on the platform so that they run a tight and safe ship. The caveat to that is we need to have a level playing field. What we can't see is that Uber is held to one expectation, and others are not. This gives them advantages such as cost, access, etc.

 

What is going to be really important is that, over the next couple of years, maturity and sophistication in compliance from the state regulators starts to build out.

 

How significant is the fleet partnership going to be for Uber, and will it be substantial going ahead?

 

Yes. It is also a great example of an innovation that was started in India and now we are seeing it spread to other parts of the world. The reality is the majority of the population in India cannot afford to buy their own car. The fleet gives a model whereby the access to capital issue is taken away, and drivers are able to get their car. There's a lot of competition in the fleet space.

 

While there were some early large players, there are 10 other players in most markets.

 

We will play an active role in that ecosystem. I've met with a number of fleets today, and we see a line of sight and tie-ups with over five, if not 10, fleets having well over a thousand cars by the end of next year. 

 

Mobility remains a major challenge for Indian cities. Despite platforms like Uber, large-scale impact seems limited. What’s the way forward?

 

Mobility is a basic human right — it’s essential for quality of life, access, and even emotional well-being.

 

We are only getting started when it comes to ultimately solving the larger mobility issue across the markets where we have a presence. The issues are different in different cities; for instance, in Australia — where I've come from — we have a complete over-reliance on the private car. Almost 72 per cent of trips happen in private cars.

 

I think the solutions will be multimodal. It's not going to be one form of transport that solves this. It will also be shared. If you and I are going in the same direction at the same time, rather than have three empty seats, we should start using more of those seats and think of every empty seat in a car as unutilized capacity.

 

EVs will play a huge role in this transition. Another promising — though further out — solution is autonomous vehicles.

 

I'm just back from Austin, where we're doing a trial with Waymo, a subsidiary of Google. And it's real. I was in a car for upwards of 50 minutes… no driver… it’s seamless. The tech works. There are a few barriers in India. One is the cost of these vehicles, and the other is the organization of roads. India has fairly hectic streets.

 

How is Uber’s R&D centre in India building innovation for global markets, and have any of the features launched for Indian markets also been taken to other regions?

 

We started on our journey with tech in India slowly. Five or six years ago, we took stock of the quality of what we were getting out of India, and we were taken aback by how strong that capability was. We are now at a place where the quality of the engineering staff in India across both product and engineering, as well as all the technical functions, is so strong that we are meaningfully growing that. We will make announcements about how we are going to increase our continued investments. 

 

There are many innovations that are being built in India today. For example, intercity or outstation was an opportunity that we found in India. We built that technology for the Indian use case, and now it's in 15 different countries around the world.

 

Likewise, Moto is a great example of that. There is a lot of innovation coming out of India every month.

 

Uber has set 2040 as its zero-emission target. How does the India market look for this transition?

 

We won’t meet our 2040 goal unless there is strong partnership and investment across the public and private sectors — Uber can’t do it alone.

 

That said, the signs in India are encouraging. The central government and several states are pushing hard on electrification.

 

We’re also seeing exciting innovation. One key hurdle remains the cost of EVs compared to petrol and CNG vehicles. But globally, EV costs are coming down — and I believe India will benefit from that trend in the near future.