 "Prabhjeet Singh, President of Uber India and South Asia")
India has become Uber’s third-largest market globally by trip volume, trailing only the US and Brazil, as the ride-hailing company deepens its focus on one of its fastest-growing regions. In a video interview with Peerzada Abrar, Prabhjeet Singh, president of Uber India and South Asia, discusses the company's plans to scale bike taxis aggressively following regulatory clarity, expand into smaller cities where two-wheelers and three-wheelers dominate, and build new businesses in B2B logistics and transit ticketing. Singh also addresses competition from local players, the path to profitability, and Uber's roadmap for electric-vehicle adoption in a market serving 1.2 billion trips annually. Edited excerpts:
How does India rank within Uber's global portfolio, and what are your expansion priorities for the next 2-3 years?
India is the third-largest market for Uber globally by trip volume, after the US and Brazil, and one of the fastest-growing markets at that scale. We serve more than 1.2 billion trips annually and have over 1.5 million active earners each month using the platform.
India has the most diverse mobility product portfolio on Uber—four-wheelers, three-wheelers, two-wheelers, intercity travel, and Uber Reserve. We are seeing growing demand for premium experiences like Uber Black. We recently announced our foray into B2B logistics through open network for digital commerce (ONDC), allowing merchants to leverage our delivery ecosystem.
On growth priorities, India is both an incredibly important and under-penetrated market. We are seeing growth at both ends of the spectrum. On the affordability side, products like Uber Moto and three-wheelers are seeing strong acceleration. On the premium side, demand for Uber Black and Uber Reserve is growing so fast that we currently do not have enough vehicles to meet demand.
We are combining the best of Uber’s technology and on-ground operations while bringing our broader vision of “go anywhere, get anything” to life in India.
What's the strategic rationale behind moves into B2B logistics and metro ticketing? What percentage of your business do you expect these newer verticals to represent by 2027?
B2B logistics supports the digitisation of commerce and growing expectations around last-mile fulfillment. There is massive space for scaled players to create the fulfilment layer. We are seeing growth of quick commerce and merchants looking for last-mile delivery solutions.
We already have a large network of 1.5 million active drivers and a fast-growing B2C logistics business through Courier and Courier XL. Extending this capability to B2B is a natural progression.
On transit ticketing, many consumers already use Uber products to and from metro stations. In cities where metro ticketing is live, users can plan their first and last mile alongside ticket purchase. This keeps users within the Uber ecosystem while driving adoption of two-wheelers and three-wheelers.
How do you navigate integration challenges and competition from logistics players?
ONDC accelerates participation. For metro ticketing, instead of integrating separately with each metro authority, we integrate once through ONDC and scale across networks efficiently. For B2B logistics, we are currently live only via ONDC. This allows merchants already on ONDC to leverage our delivery capabilities.
Competition is a reality in India. There are strong local players with deep market understanding. We are competition-aware but not competition-obsessed, and we focus on building from our strengths.
What product innovations have originated in India and scaled globally?
We operate in 70 plus countries globally and if we create any innovation for any market it is actually creating an opportunity for us to bring that to India.
At the same time, India’s size and diversity also make it a powerful innovation engine. Many innovations we make here have relevance globally.
Uber Intercity is an example. We are the largest intercity player in India, addressing a historically fragmented market. This was an India-first innovation and has since been launched in multiple global markets, including Latin America, North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Much of the engineering and product thinking happens in India.
Then there is collaboration on digital public infrastructure with ONDC, which is giving us inspiration to potentially work with other similar measures in various other locations when the time is right and such infrastructure is available in other geographies.
We are also innovating in safety, with features like RideCheck that detect unexpected stops or route deviations and proactively reach out to riders.
How do you assess the competitive landscape, particularly around bike-taxis? Rapido has captured a significant share in bike taxis. Do you plan to scale that category and expand more aggressively into auto-rickshaws?
India has multiple competitors reflecting the size and diversity of the opportunity. Different players operate across affordability, premium, electric vehicle (EV)-only, and intercity models.
Our ambition is clear: We want to win by using our scale and product diversity to serve multiple consumer segments. On one end, we are building for premium and corporate consumers. On the other, we are leaning into two-wheelers and three-wheelers, which are low-fare, high-volume categories.
Particularly in bike taxis, this is an area where we have been very thoughtful given pockets of regulatory uncertainty. Two-wheelers are one of the fastest-growing parts of our business. As regulatory clarity improves, particularly with the 2025 Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines enabling two-wheelers, we are going all in on scaling this category aggressively.
If you look at our track record in multiple categories, there is absolutely no reason why we can't also make this one of the largest parts of our portfolio. Momentum over the last few months has been strong, and we will continue to lean into bike taxis in a very material way.
What's your strategy for deeper penetration into Tier-II and III cities?
We operate in more than 125 cities, but we are thoughtful about expansion. We focus on improving reliability and breadth of services in cities we already operate in rather than chasing vanity metrics.
Smaller cities are often two-wheeler and three-wheeler-first markets, where we use these as our flagship products versus Uber Go. Some cities are primarily intercity markets, where our leadership in that segment allows us to participate effectively.
How do you navigate India's complex regulatory environment? What specific regulatory clarity would most benefit the industry? How is Uber engaging with policymakers on issues like gig worker benefits, EV mandates, and congestion pricing?
The 2025 Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines provide a stable framework for ride-hailing platforms to make long-term investments. Different states are adopting them.
For gig workers, the Code on Social Security creates a safety net while preserving flexibility. We are fully committed to participating in the schemes as implementation plays out.
Transportation is a concurrent subject, so state-level variations remain. But we continue to engage constructively on a state-by-state basis and remain bullish about the direction. Bike taxis remain an active area of dialogue, and we believe they provide significant benefits for last-mile connectivity.
Could you share insights about revenue growth, profitability in the Indian market?
We do not share India-specific financial numbers publicly. Globally, Uber is in very strong financial health. In India, the business is also on very strong footing. Large parts of the portfolio are profitable, while some faster-growing segments with lower margins continue to see investment. Overall, the business is growing at high double digits, and we feel good about both the current state and our expansion plans.
Uber has committed to becoming a zero-emission platform globally by 2040. What's your roadmap for EV adoption in India?
We’ve made significant progress on electrification in India so far across various modes. Sustainability is a team sport and our focus is on supporting the ecosystem. Sustained momentum depends on strong, coordinated action from policymakers and industry. We remain fully committed to this important technological transition because it’s the right thing for our business just as it is the right thing for the planet and we’ll continue working with various stakeholders.
