Heena Sharma Blog

Uber is resuming services in the green and orange zones in India, subject to social distancing norms specified by the government, and will continue to run its Uber Essentials and UberMedic services in the Red Zones as well. For green zones, “If you are booking a car or an auto ride, to maintain social distancing, we recommend not more than two riders should travel at a time, besides the driver. No one should also be seated right next to the driver,” the Uber India Team said in a blog post on Monday. Similarly, Uber is resuming services in the orange zones outside of the containment areas. “ Please follow local government guidelines on the exact number of riders permitted to travel at a time in the car, besides the driver. No one should also be seated right next to the driver,” Uber said. Read More

Services of Ola and Uber will not be available in Delhi till March 31 amid the lockdown announced by the state government to contain the spread of coronavirus infection . The Delhi government on Sunday said the city will be in lockdown from March 23 to 31, under which no public transport, including private buses, taxis and autorickshaws will be allowed. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced a lockdown — sealing its borders, shutting down markets and directing private firms to give compulsory paid leave to all employees, including contractual — until the end of March. Beyond the 80 districts, states, including Maharashtra, which is leading in the number of coronavirus cases, Rajasthan and Punjab are now under effective statewide lockdowns after they imposed Section 144 that bars gatherings of more than four people. "Uber is complying with all Central and State Government directives related to its services for containing the spread of Coronavirus," an Uber spoke...

Uber on Tuesday announced the sale of its food delivery business in India to Zomato in an all-stock deal. Uber will get a 9.9 per cent stake in Zomato as part of the deal whose size has not been disclosed. The deal for Uber Eats, which operates in 41 cities, was signed at 3 am, and its customers will be shifted to the Zomato app from 7 am. The deal is applicable only in India and Uber Eats will continue to operate in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. According to sources the deal value is around $300- 350 million. “ We are proud to have pioneered restaurant discovery and to have created a leading food delivery business across more than 500 cities in India. This acquisition significantly strengthens our position in the category,” said Deepinder Goyal, CEO of Zomato. Sources said the move is part of Uber’s strategy to be either number one or two in each of their businesses in every country they operate. In India, Uber Eats grew very quickly to take a 12 per cent share of the food...

After Ola , now Uber plans to expand its operation in the country, from 52 cities at present to 200 by the end of 2020. The key driver of its expansion will not be car hailing but the bike taxi service , which was launched in India in July this year. Such service has been rolled out in 30 cities, doing over 150,000 trips a day. However, it is yet to be launched in the big states of Maharashtra and Karnataka, where Uber is working through regulations. This means, while car-hiring service will still be available in most of these cities, two-wheeler service will be there in all the cities if there is regulatory permission. Its arch-rival, Ola launched its bike taxi service in 2016. It has expanded its service to over 200 cities and towns across the country. However, the company is aiming to grow threefold to have 1 million bike-partners in the next one year. Read More