According to an Uber spokesman, the new service will be titled ‘Uber Shuttle’ for daily commute in Kolkata…reports Asian Lite News
Uber will now run buses in Kolkata jointly with the West Bengal transport department.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed between Uber and the transport department here on Wednesday.
According to an Uber spokesman, the new service will be titled ‘Uber Shuttle’ for daily commute in Kolkata.
Claiming that this is the first of its kind partnership, the spokesman said that the proposed service will tap into Uber’s global expertise with an aim to provide tech-optimised mobility choice using private bus fleets.
“The launch of Uber Shuttle will help in tackling road congestion while getting more people to commute in fewer vehicles, which in turn will help reduce carbon emissions,” he said.
It is learnt that the new service will be available by March 2024.
“Uber will run approximately 60 air-conditioned buses on predefined routes, connecting business districts with residential areas in Kolkata. As part of this MoU, Uber has proposed to invest $10 million by 2025 in the state and create approximately 50,000 livelihood opportunities in Kolkata in the next five years,” the spokesman added.
The MoU was signed during the Bengal Global Business Summit, 2023 which concluded on Wednesday.
The Uber spokesman also said that with the launch of Uber Shuttle, commuters will now be able to pre-book seats up to a week in advance, follow the live location and route of the bus, and know its expected time of arrival, just like they can do with Uber cab.
“This will bring alive a convenient commute experience with no standing passengers, cashless payments, and round-the-clock safety support from Uber, including having access to a 24×7 Safety Line. The buses will run on each route from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily,” he added.
Drivers in New York will receive up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per year, said the company…reports Asian Lite News
In a significant development, Uber and Lyft on Thursday agreed to pay a combined $328 million to settle charges that the ride-hailing platforms “unlawfully withheld wages from drivers”, and failed to provide mandatory paid sick leave to them.
In the settlement with New York Attorney General Letitia James, Uber will pay $290 million and Lyft will pay $38 million, touted as the largest wage-theft settlement for the AG’s office, reports CNBC.
“For years, Uber and Lyft systemically cheated their drivers out of hundreds of millions of dollars in pay and benefits while they worked long hours in challenging conditions,” James said in a statement.
“My office will continue to make sure that companies operating in the so-called ‘gig economy’ do not deprive workers of their rights or undermine the laws meant to protect them,” she added.
In a blog post, Uber said that the agreement is a win for drivers across New York State who can now enjoy both the flexibility that is so important to them, “while also having new benefits and protections like a minimum earnings standard and paid sick leave”.
Drivers outside of NYC will earn at least $26/hour while en route to a rider or with a rider in the vehicle (NYC drivers have had an earnings standard for many years, which will remain in place). Drivers in New York will receive up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per year, said the company.
Lyft said in a statement that it expects to pay about $20 million of the settlement in its fourth quarter, with the rest in 23 monthly payments. “New York has long been a leader in providing drivers portable benefits through flexible earning opportunities with its Black Car Fund, and this agreement expands upon that foundation,” Lyft Chief Policy Officer Jeremy Bird said.
Quick-grocery delivery provider Dunzo cuts 3% of its workforce
Fairwork assessed platforms against five principles: Fair Pay, Fair Conditions, Fair Contracts, Fair Management, and Fair Representation…reports Asian Lite News
Ola, Porter, Uber and cash-strapped quick-grocery delivery provider Dunzo are the worst platforms for gig workers among 12 digital labour platforms evaluated when it comes to minimum standards of fair work in the platform economy in the country, a new report showed on Monday.
While Ola and tech-enabled logistics company Porter scored zero on a scale of 1-10, Uber and Dunzo received only one point, according to the ‘Fairwork India 2023’ report, spearheaded by the Centre for IT and Public Policy (CITAPP) at International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B), in association with Oxford University.
The report evaluated 12 platforms offering location-based services in sectors such as domestic and personal care, logistics, food delivery and transportation, in the country.
This year, the report was structured around the theme of discrimination and alienation that often come up in experiences shared by platform workers.
In a year that has seen the formulation of a significant regulation based on inputs from workers called The Rajasthan Platform Based Gig workers (Registration and Welfare Act, 2023, “we hope that highlighting the experiences of workers will point to the structural changes that platforms, consumers and the state alike will need to undertake if the platform economy is to offer its workers decent work,” said Professors Balaji Parthasarathy and Janaki Srinivasan, principal investigators.
Ola electric
Fairwork assessed platforms against five principles: Fair Pay, Fair Conditions, Fair Contracts, Fair Management, and Fair Representation.
Each principle was broken down into two points: a first point and a second point that can only be awarded if the first point has been fulfilled.
The report looked at 12 platforms, including Amazon Flex, Bigbasket, BluSmart, Dunzo, Flipkart, Ola, Porter, Swiggy, Uber, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato.
No platform scored more than six out of the maximum of 10 points, and none scored all the first points across the five principles.
In its first year of participation, ride-hailing platform aggregator BluSmart scored higher than more established platforms in its sector, with 5 points out of 10.
“There is room for cautious optimism that BluSmart’s operational model might represent a step towards better conditions for drivers in the platform economy,” the report mentioned.
Bigbasket, Flipkart and Urban Company were the only platforms with a minimum wage policy to ensure that all their workers earn at least the hourly local minimum wage after factoring in work-related costs.
“No platform made the second point of the Fair Pay principle, which requires platforms to provide sufficient evidence that workers earn at least the local living wage after work-related costs,” the findings showed.
Under the ‘Fair Conditions’ principle of providing adequate safety equipment and periodic safety training to their workers, Bigbasket, Swiggy, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato were awarded the second point.
Bigbasket, BluSmart, Urban Company, Zepto, and Zomato met the requirements for the second point under ‘Fair Contracts’ by adopting a change notification clause in their contracts, reducing asymmetries in liability, adopting a code of conduct for their subcontractors, and making the variables of pricing transparent where dynamic pricing was used.
Under the ‘Fair Management’ principle, there was sufficient evidence only from BluSmart and Swiggy to meet the second point.
“No platform could be awarded a point for ‘Fair Representation’ principle this year,” said the report
Uber to enable Delhi NCR users book a ride via WhatsApp in Hindi.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi stated that three-wheeler services in New Delhi are leading Uber’s future growth, providing an affordable alternative to traditional cabs for Indians…writes Karishma Saurabh Kalita
Uber Auto, a three-wheeler service provided by the company, has become a major hit in India making it easier for travellers to hail a ride without having to haggle for prices.
Not only has it been a boon for Indians, looking for a cheaper option to the customary cabs, but the three-wheeler services in New Delhi also seem to be at the forefront of Uber’s future growth initiatives, company’s Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has said.
The 54-year-old Chief Executive made the remark on Tuesday during a keynote session with Safra Catz, the CEO of Oracle Corporation at the tech giant’s ongoing flagship event ‘Oracle CloudWorld’ in Las Vegas.
When asked to describe the “Uber of today”, Khosrowshahi said the company has “undergone incredible transformation” since he became CEO in 2010.
“2024 will be all about growth for us. We complete about 2 billion trips a quarter… so two billion rides, or delivery of food, grocery, etc. To keep growing at this rate, we will have to add billion and a half trips every single year that requires us to come up with innovative growth initiatives,” he said.
To cite a few examples of such initiatives, he mentioned the two-wheeler services in Sao Paulo, three-wheelers in New Delhi, a new bus service which the company is building in Egypt aimed at reducing congestion, as well as grocery delivery in Santiago, Chile.
“All of the growth requires incredible innovation and building up these new products with an entrepreneurial mindset is what will get us from 2023 to 2024.”
In 2022, Indians spent 11 billion minutes traveling in Ubers.
According to the company, October 2022 saw the highest number of package deliveries through Uber Connect.
The cities with the highest number of Uber trips in 2022 were Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Kolkata.
Khosrowshahi also highlighted that when he joined as the CEO six years ago, “Uber was all about rides”.
“Push a button and get a ride. Uber was essentially a transportation company. So we decided to use the same technology and ecosystem to extend from transporting people to now transporting food and things,” he said.
The Chief Executive went to note that Uber Eats was about 50 per cent of the overall business.
“But now, the Uber Eats business is just as big as the Uber rides business,” he said, adding that “now the business of transportation of things has grown to $50 billion and all built organically”.
“Anywhere you want to go, anything you want to get, we want to be that operating system for your everyday life… push a button and good things will come to you,” the CEO added.
Also at the keynote, Oracle and Uber announced Collect and Receive, a new offering on the Oracle Retail platform connecting retailers and consumers to enhance and enrich last mile delivery.
Supported by the Oracle Retail Data Store and cloud platform technologies, retailers can now link to Uber Direct, the company’s white-label delivery solution, via pre-integrated APIs.
This joint solution enables retailers to rebalance inventory while giving customers more choices, including same-day and scheduled delivery options, order pickup, and returns to the closest retail or postal location.
The service is available today for Oracle Retail customers in the US and Canada.
“At Uber, it’s crystal clear that on-demand delivery is a core expectation for consumers — and today’s retailers are taking note,” said Khosrowshahi.
“Every month, more than 3,500 brands use Uber Direct to power millions of same-day local deliveries.
“Together with Oracle, we can make it easier than ever for retailers to leverage on-demand delivery — and even returns — to delight consumers, streamline logistics, and ultimately boost loyalty and sales.”
The two entities join forces once again to launch a first-of-its-kind service to offer the Kingdom’s commuters and tourists greater access to seamless travel…reports Asian Lite News
Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) and Uber have extended their partnership to integrate Uber’s Reserve product — for the first time globally — on a rail platform to enable passengers to pre-book up to 4 Reserve rides to and from 7 train stations across 6 cities in Saudi Arabia via the SAR website and app when purchasing train tickets. The two entities join forces once again to launch a first-of-its-kind service to offer the Kingdom’s commuters and tourists greater access to seamless travel.
The new service will be available to and from stations in Riyadh, Majmaah and Qassim on the North Train line, and for the East Train, Riyadh, Hofuf, Abqaiq and Dammam. Later, services will be activated for Hail, Jouf and Qurayyat.
The offering has been introduced to support passengers in embarking on more hassle-free end-to-end journeys that can be pre-planned, as bookings can be made up to 90 days in advance. In Saudi Arabia, Uber charts the future of urban mobility in line with Vision 2030’s goal to bolster the Kingdom’s transport network and services. Using innovative technology, this agreement with SAR aims to develop a full, state-of-the-art ecosystem of mobility solutions across the Kingdom.
Mohammad Aljuraish, General Manager, Uber Saudi Arabia, said: “As a company that connects the physical and digital worlds to help make movement happen at the tap of a button, we are delighted to be working closely with SAR to transform mobility in the Kingdom. For the first time for Uber globally, we launch Reserve’s integration with great pride in Saudi Arabia, as our commitment to the Kingdom and aligning with the Vision 2030 goals is made evident. We are also supporting the growth of tourism within the Kingdom, with inbound and outbound travelers having a streamline opportunity to explore the cities freely. This new service will make the most out of our respective technologies and platforms to offer greater access to quality mobility solutions, raising the bar for quality transportation.”
Khaled Al Harbi, Senior Vice President Passenger, Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR), adds: “True leadership is marked by a commitment to innovation, and our collaboration with Uber charts a way forward for our efforts in enriching the logistics sector, in addition to supporting tourism in the Kingdom through offering integrated transportation services enhancing the passenger experience. This partnership prioritizes travel convenience for our customers by providing safe, comfortable, and reliable trips, as SAR aspires to promote railway transportation across the Kingdom.”
The new launch ushers in the second phase of Uber’s strategic partnership with SAR, following the signing of an agreement in 2021 to facilitate more streamlined pick-up and drop off for commuters at SAR stations.
The collaboration represents the largest EV partnership yet between an automaker and a ridesharing platform in the country….reports Asian Lite News
Tata Motors on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ride-hailing platform Uber to induct 25,000 XPRES-T electric vehicles into its premium category service in India.
The collaboration represents the largest EV partnership yet between an automaker and a ridesharing platform in the country.
In July 2021, Tata Motors launched the ‘XPRES’ brand exclusively for fleet customers, and the XPRES-T EV is the first vehicle under this brand.
Tata Motors will help Uber electrify its services across Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
The company will begin the deliveries of the cars to Uber fleet partners in a phased manner, starting this month.
“The XPRES-T EV is a very attractive option both for customers and operators. While enhanced safety, silent and premium in cabin experience provides the customers with a relaxed ride, the fast charging solution, driving comfort and the cost effectiveness of the EV makes it an attractive business proposition for our fleet partners,” said Shailesh Chandra, MD, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility,
The new XPRES-T electric sedan comes with 2 range options — 315 km and 277 km.
It packs a high-energy density battery of 26 kWh and 25.5 kWh and can be charged from 0-80 per cent in 59 minutes and 110 minutes, respectively, using fast charging or can also be normally charged from any 15 A plug point, which is easily available and convenient.
It comes with zero tail-pipe emission, single speed automatic transmission, dual airbags, and ABS with EBD as standard across variants.
The premium interiors with standard automatic climate control and electric blue accents across its interior and exterior will give it a differentiated presence from other Tata cars.
“It will supercharge the transition to zero emissions on the Uber platform as we work towards building a sustainable future. We are committed to doing our part to bring down the barriers to going electric by working with industry partners that are leading the change,” said Prabhjeet Singh, President, Uber India and South Asia.
Tata Motors has rolled out over 50,000 EVs to date in the personal and fleet segment.
Other platforms who scored zero in the report were Amazon Flex and PharmEasy, while Porter scores just 1 point out of 10….reports Asian Lite News
When it comes to fair work for gig workers among the digital platform economy in India, Ola, Uber and quick-grocery delivery provider Dunzo are the worst performers across parameters related to the working conditions of gig workers, a report showed on Tuesday.
Across 12 digital labour platforms — Amazon Flex, Bigbasket, Dunzo, Flipkart, Ola, PharmEasy, Porter, Swiggy, Uber, Urban Company, Zepto and Zomato — no platform scored more than seven out of the maximum of 10 points, and none scored all the first points across the five principles (fair pay, fair conditions, fair contracts, fair management and fair representation) for gig workers, according to the ‘Fairwork India Ratings 2022 Report’.
Other platforms who scored zero in the report were Amazon Flex and PharmEasy, while Porter scores just 1 point out of 10.
Professor Balaji Parthasarathy, one of the principal investigators of the team, told IANS that these findings are alarming for all stakeholders — government, consumers and platform owners — and they should come together to help gig workers get the best working conditions.
“We would like the government and other stakeholders like consumers and digital labour platform owners to take note of these findings and ensure a better work environment for millions of gig workers in 2023,” Parthasarathy said.
The Fairwork India team was spearheaded by the Centre for IT and Public Policy (CITAPP), International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B), in association with Oxford University in the UK.
There were two highlights: Firstly, the same three platforms that scored the first point for Fair Pay last year scored a point this year too.
“No other platform publicly committed, or provided sufficient evidence, to ensure that workers earn at least the hourly local minimum wage after work-related costs,” the findings showed.
Even with workers and worker groups repeatedly emphasising the importance of a stable income for platform workers, platforms have been reluctant to publicly commit to, and operationalise, a minimum wage policy.
“Secondly, while workers have engaged in various forms of collective action to voice their concerns in the platform economy, platforms have been uncompromisingly unwilling to recognise or negotiate with any collective body representing workers,” the findings showed.
This year, the report was structured around the theme of flexibility, which is often portrayed as a crucial dimension and benefit of platform work.
“The promise of flexibility of the digital platform economy raises as many questions about livelihoods as it offers opportunities. We hope the report provides the basis for an interpretation of flexibility that allows for not merely the adaptability that platforms seek, but also the income and social security that workers lack”, said Parthasarathy and Janaki Srinivasan, the Principal Investigators of the team.
According to the report, Bigbasket, Flipkart and Urban Company implemented and operationalised policies to ensure that all workers on these platforms earn at least the hourly local minimum wage after factoring in work-related costs.
You can then use these points to earn discounts on future rides or deliveries. The more points you earn, the better perks you get — earning 7,500 points…reports Asian Lite News
Ride-hailing platform Uber is closing down its loyalty programme, Uber Rewards, with users being urged to sign up for the Uber One subscription to get regular Uber and Uber Eats discounts.
Launched in 2018, Uber Rewards is a free programme that lets you rack points for every dollar you spend when hitching a ride or ordering food through Uber and Uber Eats, reports The Verge.
You can then use these points to earn discounts on future rides or deliveries. The more points you earn, the better perks you get — earning 7,500 points.
However, Uber is not offering a replacement for the programme, and there is no another way to consistently earn perks and discounts unless you pay for an Uber One subscription, which Uber launched as a replacement for Eats Pass last year.
A $9.99/month (or $49.99/year) subscription comes with perks like free food deliveries, up to 10 per cent off of “eligible” Uber Eats orders, and 5 per cent off on rides from top-rated drivers.
Omio’s earlier B2B partnerships include some transport providers themselves, such as UK-based LNER, as well as the travel search engine Kayak and smartphone maker Huawei, among others…reports Asian Lite News
To help customers book longer-distance ground travel, ride-hailing platform Uber is testing adding train and coach travel to its app in the UK via a fully integrated tie-up with Berlin-based multimodal travel platform, Omio.
Omio said it has built up its consumer-facing apps for booking intercity and international travel, across a wide variety of supported transport options, over almost a decade of operations.
But, in recent years, it has been ploughing resources into building out a B2B line — making its inventory available to partners via APIs so they can add transport booking options to their own apps and platforms, reports TechCrunch.
“Uber is the first partner that is both at this scale but also the first that gets access to our full ticketing API, so you actually are, as a customer, able to do everything within the Uber app a” so it is the first with respect to this product that we’re offering,” Omio CEO Naren Shaam was quoted as saying.
Omio’s earlier B2B partnerships include some transport providers themselves, such as UK-based LNER, as well as the travel search engine Kayak and smartphone maker Huawei, among others.
Shaam said the tie-up will put its inventory in front of the circa over 5 million customers Uber claims in the UK market.
“This is the beginning of our partnership; it will expand a” beyond just geography,” he suggested, noting that Omio’s B2B partners can “pick and choose” from its full inventory range of supported transport models to offer their own customers.
“It is very clear to me that we are never going to have 100 per cent of all the eyeballs in the wall using only Omio, so very much the company is evolving into a more data company — where the data and our inventory becomes a core asset,” he added.
Moove aims to launch 5,000 CNG and electric vehicles within the first year and plans to scale to 30,000 over the next five years in India…reports Asian Lite News
Ride-hailing major Uber on Monday announced to bring Moove, its largest vehicle supply partner in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) market, to India to help people buy new vehicles using a percentage of their weekly revenue, first in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, and become its driver-partners.
Founded in 2020, mobility fintech Moove embeds its alternative credit scoring technology onto ride-hailing platforms and leverages proprietary performance and revenue analytics to underwrite loans to drivers who have previously been excluded from financial services.
Moove aims to launch 5,000 CNG and electric vehicles within the first year and plans to scale to 30,000 over the next five years in India.
“Moove has created an innovative rent to own” model that provides a flexible option for drivers who want to get into the business of ride hailing without having to borrow from car owners or take bank loans to finance cars brought from dealerships,” said Abhilekh Kumar, Director, Business Development, Uber India South Asia.
“The addition of new cars will help provide superior customer experience to riders while creating sustainable earning opportunities for drivers on the Uber platform,” Kumar added.
The startup recently raised $105 million to expand across new markets in Asia and Europe.
With over 600,000 drivers on Uber in India, the launch will unlock an opportunity for Moove to provide accessible financing to thousands of drivers.
“We’re excited to be expanding our revenue-based vehicle financing model to enable the sustainable creation of jobs across the country, where there are some of the lowest vehicle ownership rates in the world, in part because of the lack of access to credit,” said Ladi Delano, co-founder and co-CEO at Moove.
Moove aims to be a global leader in the electrification of ride-hailing and mobility with a commitment to ensuring that 60 per cent of the vehicles it finances globally are hybrid or electric.
