Until now, such work has been typically outsourced to independent contractors outside the Uber ecosystem. By bringing it into the driver app, Uber is offering drivers an additional stream of income, especially during downtimes when ride demand is low.

“This pilot is about giving drivers more choice, flexibility, and ways to earn,” said Megha Yethadka, Global Head, Uber AI Solutions. “Drivers can face downtime at certain times of the day, and digital tasks offer a way to make that time productive. Early engagement has been strong, with many thousands of tasks already completed.”

Uber AI Solutions works with global companies to deliver services like data labelling, localisation, and product testing, which are the building blocks of high-performing AI systems. If successful, the India pilot may become a template for similar initiatives worldwide, giving Uber’s vast network of drivers and delivery partners a role in the fast-growing AI economy.

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As part of the first phase, select Uber Moto drivers in Delhi received safety kits comprising helmets, reflective vests, safety stickers, and protective gear today from Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and Corporate Affairs, Shri Harsh Malhotra. In addition, Uber plans to introduce AI-powered Helmet Selfies for drivers and in-app ‘helmet nudges’ for riders to improve helmet adoption. Women Rider Preference, a first-of-its-kind feature allowing female drivers to filter for female riders, will now be extended to Moto rides.

Bike taxis have become a preferred mobility option due to their affordability, convenience, and ability to navigate traffic. According to the India Economic Impact Report 2024, compiled by UK-based Public First, Uber Auto and Moto contributed INR 36,000 crore to the economy in 2024. A KPMG report titled “Unlocking the potential of bike taxis in India” estimates the sector could create 5.4 million flexible livelihood opportunities in India by 2030, reinforcing its growing significance.

Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and Corporate Affairs, Shri Harsh Malhotra, said: “India is among the world’s largest two-wheeler markets, and ensuring road safety is our shared responsibility. Helmet compliance is a major factor in saving lives from road accidents involving two-wheelers. Uber’s proactive efforts to enhance road safety with tech-driven features like Helmet Selfies and nudges are commendable. Safety kits with helmets and protective gear will keep drivers and riders safe. These efforts need to be scaled further, and we hope that similar initiatives will be adopted by other companies too.”

Manish Bindrani, Head of Regional Supply Growth, Uber India & South Asia, added: “Uber Moto is one of the fastest-growing segments for Uber, loved for its affordability, ability to cut through traffic, and easy integration with public transport. Today, the total number of two- and three-wheeler trips on Uber has surpassed car rides. With new safety features and the distribution of safety kits, we are reinforcing our commitment to safer roads while supporting drivers with flexible earning opportunities.”

New Safety Features for Uber Moto

• Helmet Selfies for Drivers: This industry-first AI-powered feature ensures compliance with helmet use. Drivers are periodically prompted to take a selfie wearing a helmet before starting a trip. If the helmet is missing, they will not be able to begin the trip.
• Helmet Nudges for Riders: Moto trips will begin with an in-app reminder prompting riders to wear a helmet before starting their journey. This will encourage riders to use helmets during rides and stay safe.
• Women Rider Preference (WRP): Initially launched for cars, WRP will now extend to Moto rides, allowing female drivers to filter for only female riders, when they want to. This option will give female drivers peace of mind and flexibility, particularly during late hours.

Beyond these new initiatives, every Moto trip on Uber is backed by key safety features, including a 24×7 Safety Line, an in-app emergency button, phone number anonymization, and RideCheck, which detects long stops, midway drops and route deviations, prompting Uber to check in with the rider and driver. These efforts reinforce Uber’s commitment to making two-wheeler mobility safer, more reliable, and accessible to millions of Indians.

The post Uber Introduces Innovative Safety Features and Kits for Moto Users appeared first on NRI News.

Through this collaboration, SBI has created a customized car loan product specifically designed for Uber’s fleet partners. The collaboration aims to support both new and existing Uber fleet partners, helping them expand their businesses with ease and contributing to the ongoing growth of India’s ride-hailing industry. The integration will enable hassle-free loan disbursement, helping fleets maintain optimal performance. By leveraging Uber’s technology and SBI’s extensive financial services network, the collaboration ensures that fleet partners can manage their finances efficiently and scale their businesses faster.

Vinay M Tonse, MD (Retail Business & Operations), SBI reiterated that “At SBI, we are committed to offering innovative financial products that support businesses across India. Our partnership with Uber highlights our focus on providing tailored solutions to a diverse set of customers. By offering affordable financing solutions to Uber fleet partners, we are helping to fuel the growth of the ridesharing sector, while also ensuring that fleet owners have access to the capital they need to succeed.”

Commenting on the partnership, Prabhjeet Singh, President, of Uber India & South Asia, said, “This partnership reinforces Uber’s commitment to its fleet partners and aligns with our vision of fostering growth in India’s ride-sharing ecosystem. By providing affordable loans through SBI’s customized offerings, we aim to create an enabling environment that provides fleet partners with the tools they need to scale effectively and contribute to the overall development of the industry.” 

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INDIA: WeWork India, the leading flexible workspace provider in the country, is partnering with Uber, India’s leading ridesharing app, to offer a seamless commuting solution to their 70,000+ members. This collaboration is set to redefine commuting convenience, providing travel benefits designed to support WeWork India members in their day-to-day operations.

Through this partnership, WeWork India members will access Uber for Business. This B2B2C platform allows organizations to consumerize Uber’s extensive suite of travel benefits for business riders, ensuring a seamless commuting experience that aligns with their mobility needs. Members will have access to a uniquely built travel benefits program that includes user-friendly payment options, improved reliability, and flexible cancellation. They can choose from Uber’s range of premium and economy options, tailored to their comfort and needs, including the latest products like Uber Reserve, Uber Rentals, Uber Intercity, and Uber Shuttle, amongst others. Members will also get exclusive access to premium ride options such as Business Premier, which curates top-rated drivers for a more comfortable commuting and business ride experience.

“Our collaboration with Uber is a significant step towards enhancing the daily lives of our members by offering them a seamless and convenient commuting experience. By integrating Uber’s mobility solutions with our flexible workspaces, we’re not only simplifying their journey to work but also reinforcing our commitment to creating a holistic and sustainable work environment that meets the evolving needs of modern professionals. Furthermore, Uber’s safety technology and community guidelines will ensure a safe, secure, and positive experience for our members,” said Raghuvinder Singh Pathania, Head of Community & Operations, WeWork India.

As part of this collaboration, all WeWork India members will receive a one-time incentive upon activating their WeWork profile on the Uber App. This partnership will be stitched across all WeWork locations in India and will be supercharged with Uber for Business’ Tech implementation to ensure a seamless launch across the WeWork India community. While WeWork India is focused on its sustainability impact by improving mobility access at its locations, Uber for Business will also fuel the rider experience with their 24×7 premium business support, built to offer an elevated servicing framework.  

Commenting on the collaboration, Abhinav Mittoo, Sr. Country GM, Uber for Business,  India & South Asia said, “This collaboration aligns with our commitment to enhance and simplify business mobility for dynamic environments and workplaces. Our customer portfolio is growing as organizations are increasingly focusing on cost, digitization, and the experience of their employees or community. We are excited to partner with  WeWork India and its members to help them leverage a tech-based mobility solution that not only optimizes travel needs to enhance productivity but also provides a more safer and reliable way to move around. We believe this partnership will be instrumental in creating a more connected and convenient mobility experience for their vibrant community.”

Since its inception in 2017, WeWork India’ has constantly focused on elevating the workplace experience for members. This partnership reflects the brand’s ongoing commitment to enhancing it further by providing innovative and sustainable solutions. By leveraging Uber’s expertise in mobility, WeWork India aims to offer an unparalleled commuting experience, contributing to the productivity and work-life balance of members.

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MUMBAI: As residents of Delhi get set to pick an Uber Shuttle Bus for their everyday commute, Uber has launched a novel campaign #UberReads to raise awareness for the shared ride product that can go a long way in addressing congestion on the roads. The new fleet of electric Uber Shuttle buses will come stocked with popular books and best-selling titles from Penguin Random House India to encourage riders to read during their rides.

The #UberReads campaign has been designed to allow riders to sit back comfortably in the air-conditioned EV buses with pre-booked seats and pick their favorite title from a handpicked selection of best sellers – encouraging reading over doom-scrolling on smartphones during long rides.

Uber Shuttle offers riders the convenience of pre-booking seats up to a week in advance while being able to make cashless payments, follow the live location of the bus on the Uber app, and have access to a round-the-clock safety helpline.

The month-long campaign will see #UberReads EV buses running through predefined routes in Delhi that have some of the most traversed commute routes between business districts and large residential areas.

Commenting on the feature, Amit Deshpande, Head of High Capacity Vehicles, Uber India and South Asia said, “Uber Shuttle helps get more people to travel in fewer vehicles, all with the comfort, convenience and safety that Uber has brought to everyday commute. Our campaign #UberReads is a unique way to draw attention to the options available to all of us which we somehow choose to overlook – like choosing a shared ride over a private vehicle or choosing to scroll endlessly on the phone instead of mindful reading. By bringing to life #UberReads through our partnership with Penguin, we want to remind people of the conscious choices that are wholesome in more ways than one.”

Speaking about the initiative, Gaurav Shrinagesh, CEO- of India, SEA & MENA, Penguin Random House said, “At Penguin, we believe in the transformative power of reading and the importance of keeping this habit alive in our content-crowded world. The #UberReads campaign is an exciting opportunity to showcase the wide range of books we offer – from fiction to biographies, self-help to mysteries – ensuring there’s a book for every kind of reader. We are thrilled to partner with Uber in this innovative initiative, demonstrating that reading can happen anywhere, even on the go. This partnership is a testament to the creative possibilities when two brands come together with a shared vision.”

The ‘# UberReads-branded buses house a collection of the most popular Penguin titles ranging from fiction to biographies, and from self-help books to mysteries, offering riders the chance to revisit the joy of reading paperback. Riders will have the freedom to pick a book of their choice and enjoy reading it through their journey. They would be encouraged to place the book back in its place for the next rider while exiting the bus at their stop.

How to book an Uber Shuttle trip:

1. Open the Uber App
2. Enter your destination, select the ‘Shuttle’ option
3. Review your fare
4. Select your preferred route & pick-up timing, and then tap request
5. We will send you the driver and bus details 25 min before your journey.
6. You can track the shuttle via the app before your pickup time.
7. Walk to the pickup spot you see on the map

The post Uber’s Game-Changing Initiative: Say Goodbye to Doomscrolling and Hello to Reading appeared first on NRI News.

Uber’s data reflects a sharp increase in the number of Indians using the ridesharing app abroad during 2023, with the number of overseas travelers being second only to Americans. During the ongoing summer travel season, Indians are expected to surpass records set in the previous years.

The number of Indians traveling abroad has seen a marked jump over the past two years, with almost a million of them using their trusted ridesharing app overseas during the year gone by.

As per the data, Indians traveled to close to 1,000 cities across 68 countries over the year. While the number of cities they explored increased significantly, most Uber-ed countries stayed the same – The United States, The United Kingdom, and Canada.

Summer holidays appear to be the most popular travel time for Indians to travel abroad as schools and colleges go into a break, giving families more time to spend together. The most popular month for overseas travel in 2023 was May, compared to June in 2022.

Commenting on the trend, Prabhjeet Singh, President, of Uber India and South Asia said, “Indians have been breaking all travel records over the past couple of years, and it’s heartwarming to see how Uber continues to be their trusted last-mile partner in these travels. Be it the familiarity when landing at an airport in a new city, or the safety when riding late at night, it’s a huge mark of trust for us to see Indians book an Uber for their overseas travels.”

While overseas, Indians traveled 25% longer distances in Ubers on average compared to their trips in India, and tried as many as 21 different products across countries, including Comfort Electric which are premium EVs, Multimodal Transit – an option that includes mass-transit modes such as trains) and most ubiquitous UberX option among others.

A lot of the countries Indians traveled to operate peer-to-peer ridesharing, letting people use their vehicles to give Uber rides, supporting the gig economy in its truest form. That perhaps explains a range of luxury vehicle Uber rides for Indians while traveling abroad in 2023 including:

• Porsche Cayenne     
• Jaguar F PACE         
• Range Rover Sport   
• Mercedes S450        
• BMW 740i M Sport   
• Lincoln Navigator              

Apart from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, Indians also had some premium EVs show up when they booked Uber rides abroad. Some of them were:

• Jaguar I PACE
• Audi e-tron Sportback        
• Mercedes EQE 500   
• Ford F150 Lightning  

The post Overseas Uber Trips Show Indians Are Traveling Abroad Like Never Before appeared first on NRI News.

The analysis from the trips in 2023 revealed some very interesting trends about cities with the highest number of trips, the total number of kilometers covered in Uber rides, popular travel trends in intercity travel, the city with the most late-night trips, and also several rider preferences. Backed by data and insights the report spotlights the increasing relevance of ride-sharing in India and efforts to create sustainable cities for the future.

The year 2023 saw Indians breaking travel records, with several new rider trends emerging and evolving the way people move around their cities. Uber remained the favorite mobility companion through the changes, with products across categories finding love from riders. Uber trips during the year covered a record 6.8 billion kilometers, which is enough to traverse the entire 6.37-million-kilometer road network in India more than a thousand times over, or nearly thrice every day.

Uber Auto and Uber Go continued to be the most popular products in the country, with the former pipping its four-wheeled sibling to the finish line. This is a testament to the growing love among Indians for booking Autos through apps, a product that was historically street-hailed.

The cities with the highest number of Uber trips in 2023 are Delhi-NCR, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune, and Kolkata.

While Delhi-NCR did have the overall highest number of trips, Mumbai beat the national capital in terms of the most late-night trips booked, while Kolkata indulged in weekend travel the most. Residents of Delhi NCR used Uber for their work commute the most among all cities and had the highest number of office-hour trips booked.

Below is an overview of insights from ‘How India Ubered in 2023’:

• Most Uber trips were booked between 6 PM and 7 PM
• The most popular day of the week for booking an Uber was Saturday
• The travel month of December has seen the highest number of rides being booked in a single month, with Durga Puja and Christmas weekend being the most popular days in terms of number of trips booked.
• The wee hours of the morning, between 4 AM and 5 AM saw the highest number of Uber Reserve trips being booked to airports, with riders across the country not wanting to risk missing their first alarm.
• In terms of preferences for Uber Rentals rides with multiple stops, most riders opted for the 2-hour, 20-kilometer package, which helps them get done with business meetings, doctor visits, and other chores.
• Uber Bus saw 74,000 first-time users experience the ease of booking a seat on a mass transit product through an app. 
• Mumbai’s favorite weekend getaway Lonavala was the most frequented tourist destination in 2023 using the popular Uber Intercity.
• Indians traveled 64 million kilometers in EVs through the year, spending a total of 3.9 million hours, helping contain carbon emissions and building a greener future.

India’s Uber 6 (Top 6 cities in India with the highest number of Uber rides in 2023, in no particular order)

1. Delhi NCR
2. Bengaluru
3. Hyderabad
4. Mumbai
5. Pune
6. Kolkata

Fastest Cities in India (Avg speed): (The top 5 cities in India in terms of the fastest average speeds clocked on the roads, in descending order)

1. Chandigarh
2. Ahmedabad
3. Delhi-NCR
4. Lucknow
5. Mysore

India’s Top Intercity Routes (India’s top 5 intercity routes this 2023)

1. Mumbai – Pune
2. Delhi – Meerut
3. Lucknow – Kanpur
4. Mumbai – Lonavala
5. Mumbai – Nashik

Top 5 Longest Trips (Top 5 longest Intercity trips by kilometers traveled, including round trips on Intercity)

1. Jaipur- Delhi Airport- Fatehpur Sikri – Chomu (Rajasthan) – Bangaon (Haryana)
2. Manesar – Dungargarh (Rajasthan) – Hisar (Haryana) – Manesar
3. Manesar – Kasol (Himachal Pradesh ) – Sonipat
4. Delhi – Kanpur – Delhi
5. Jaipur- Anuppur (Madhya Pradesh)

Uber launched several new products and features during the year, including its flagship sustainability option Uber Green, and round trips on Uber Intercity, with each of them garnering love from riders throughout the country. The company’s journey planning product, Uber Reserve, has been enhanced using industry-leading technology, including the option to book rides up to 90 days in advance.

Over the past 10 years, Uber has become a household name in more than 125 cities across the country. The ridesharing company has provided over Rs 500 billion in earnings to more than 3 million drivers and has helped millions of Indians go where they wanted to, just at the tap of a button. 

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