Uber eyes shuttle services, car rentals
BENGALURU: Ride hailing firm Uber is planning to offer self-driving car rentals and shuttle bus services in India to trump key rival Ola, three people aware of its plans said.
The move is part of the company’s plans to expand its core mobility business in India with new products and partnerships, after exiting the food delivery business. The company has already formed a team for the foray into self-drive rentals and shuttle buses, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.
Uber India has formed several partnerships and taken strategic initiatives with mobility firms including Drivezy, Zoomcar, Bounce and Revv to bring new vehicles on its platform, according to one of the three people.
“In Bengaluru and many other cities, Uber has started partnering with middlemen such as tours and travel operators and mobility platforms like Drivezy, Zoomcar and Revv, who can arrange taxis on a rental basis for Uber,” said the person. Under this model, the Uber driver approaches Drivezy or Zoomcar, from which a vehicle is leased for 5-30 days.
Under this model, Uber does not pay the driver directly. “The platform (Zoomcar, Drivezy, Revv) earns revenue for each completed trip and pays off the Uber driver’s salary directly instead of Uber settling the pay,” said the person.
The Uber team will work to bring self-driving four-wheelers from these platforms directly on to the Uber app for rentals, this person added. Ola has a fourwheeler rental product since October 2019.
According to the second person cited earlier, the company is planning to expand its shuttle services. “Uber has already done a pilot and plans to launch the full (shuttle) service sometime during the year in one or more cities. The plan is to offer high-capacity vehicles that can seat anywhere between 12 and 25 commuters,” said the person.
An Uber India spokesperson said the company is constantly evaluating new business models. “We have recently experimented with car rental companies so that drivers and fleet partners could access these vehicles,” the spokesperson said in response to Mint’s queries.
Uber’s shuttle service will take on existing players such as Amazon-backed Shuttl, which operates in New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune and Hyderabad.