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Uber Stalls India Leasing Scheme as Driver Incomes Drop – Sources

25Mar By reutersNo Comments

News

Uber Stalls India Leasing Scheme as Driver Incomes Drop – Sources

Global ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies is rethinking its car leasing strategy in India, its second-biggest market, as drivers have returned dozens of leased cars early after the company cut incentives, people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Uber had planned to buy 15,000 new cars last year and lease them out in a bid to attract more drivers - a strategy it has used in other markets - but it suspended the scheme for a while in December after leasing just a third of that total. After burning through millions of dollars over three years in a battle for market share with local rival Ola, backed by Japan's Softbank , Uber has cut the incentives it gives to drivers and raised the fares it charges passengers. The incentives - from free smartphones to cash bonuses worth as much...

Uber Admit To Use Its Secret Software Greyball To Deceive Local Authorities

4Mar By NitishNo Comments

News

Uber Admit To Use Its Secret Software Greyball To Deceive Local Authorities

Uber has acknowledged the use of a secret software program to steer drivers away from trouble, including sting operations by local authorities to catch law-breakers. In the latest in a streak of damaging news for the ridesharing giant, Uber came forward about its "Greyball" software yesterday after a New York Times report which said the program aimed to deceive authorities in markets around the world. According to an Uber statement, the tool was used in cities where it was not banned from operating, and the main intent was to protect drivers from disruption by competitors using the smartphone application to interfere instead of summon legitimate rides. "This program denies ride requests to fraudulent users who are violating our terms of service," an Uber spokesperson said in an...

Reliance Clarifies No plans to Launch App Based Taxi Service

25Feb By AdityaNo Comments

News

Reliance Clarifies No plans to Launch App Based Taxi Service

Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has no plans to launch an app-based taxi service as the company sees no logic in diversifying into unrelated sectors. It has been speculated for months that Reliance Jio, the company's telecom venture that has created ripples by signing up 100 million customers in just 170 days of launch, will soon launch a taxi service. The company had not commented on the speculations so far but took to the Twitter to deny the foray after an online publication stated that Jio has ordered some 600 cars to "kickstart" the service. A Reliance spokesperson tweeted that the report is "WRONG and DENIED". The company has no plans to get into unrelated diversification , another official explained. Reliance Jio had earlier this week announced a strategic ...

23Feb By Press Trust of IndiaNo Comments

News

Uber Ties Up With Bangalore Metro

Global taxi-hailing platform Uber said it has partnered with Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) across 12 metro stations to provide last mile connectivity to everyday commuters. Consumers can avail the service through exclusive Uber booking counters at metro stations, Uber said in a statement. It said Uber representatives will also be available at these counters to ensure metro commuters get a reliable and affordable ride to their next destination. Uber booking counters at Metro stations will be available by end of March 2017. "This partnership is a great example of how the public and private transport can work together and complement each other's strengths in order to help solve major issues that citizens face, in this case, last mile connectivity," Uber (Bengal...

Eyeing on 300 Crore Profit, Indian Railways Will Allow Space For App Based Cab Service

15Feb By NitishNo Comments

INDIA, News

Eyeing on 300 Crore Profit, Indian Railways Will Allow Space For App Based Cab Service

Encashing the growing demand for application-based cab services, the Indian Railways is all set to provide space for such facility at about 500 major stations, eyeing an annual profit of Rs 300 crores. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will unveil the new policy for app-based cab service next month along with providing parking space and kiosks near major stations. The Railways at present earns about Rs 122 crores a year from parking spaces across the country. With the new policy, the national transporter envisages Rs 200 crores more annually from these parking spaces, a senior official said. Though a passenger can still avail Ola or Uber service through the mobile application, allowing a kiosk and adequate parking space near busy stations is expected to ensure good business for the a...

Uber CEO Quits Trump’s Business Advisory Group

4Feb By NitishNo Comments

News

Uber CEO Quits Trump’s Business Advisory Group

Uber Technologies Inc Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick quit President Donald Trump's business advisory group on Thursday amid mounting pressure from activists and employees who oppose the administration's immigration policies. Critics included Uber drivers, many of whom are immigrants themselves. "Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that," Kalanick, who had planned to attend a meeting of the group on Friday, said in an email to staff that was seen by Reuters. Uber spokeswoman Chelsea Kohler later confirmed that he had left the group. Social media campaigns had targeted Uber, urging users to delete accounts and opt for rival Lyft Inc. Uber has been emailing users who...

Uber to Suspend its Ride-Hailing Service in Taiwan From Feb 10

2Feb By reutersNo Comments

News

Uber to Suspend its Ride-Hailing Service in Taiwan From Feb 10

Uber Technologies Inc said it will suspend its service in Taiwan from February 10, the latest salvo in the wrangle between the island's authorities and the global ride-hailing service company. Late last year, Taiwan's legislature finalised regulations raising fines against unlicensed ride-sharing services, targeted at Uber, which said at the time that was the highest level for such fines globally. "Today, we are announcing our intention to pause our Taiwan service starting Friday 10th February. We hope that pressing pause will reset the conversation and inspire President Tsai (Ing-wen) to take action," Uber said in a statement on its website. The statement did not specify what action Uber wanted the president to take.

Cleartrip Integrates with Uber API to Offer Local Activities

1Feb By NitishNo Comments

News

Cleartrip Integrates with Uber API to Offer Local Activities

Online travel and activities platform Cleartrip today said it has partnered with global ride sharing company Uber that will integrate the latter's Application program interface (API) to make contextual local activity suggestions. This integration will also offer seamless Uber ride requests on the Cleartrip platform, a release issued here said. After this integration Uber riders can now discover and book local experiences in their cities. "We are excited to enable a new channel for our product suite through this partnership with Uber. We are sure this will increase the discoverability of our Local product. We have always innovated on customer experience and this will further the cause by taking the local activity right to the users when they most likely need one," Cleartrip Chief Mark...

SoftBank Considers Investment of Over $1Bn in WeWork: Report

31Jan By reutersNo Comments

FUNDING

SoftBank Considers Investment of Over $1Bn in WeWork: Report

SoftBank Group is considering an investment of more than $1 billion in office-space sharing start-up WeWork, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The deal could be among the first from SoftBank's $100 billion technology fund, the report said. SoftBank and WeWork declined to comment. WeWork is currently valued at nearly $17 billion and SoftBank's valuation of the company is expected to be at or above this figure, the publication said, citing sources. Citing sources, it also said SoftBank had earlier discussed an investment in WeWork before pulling out and added that talks may not result in a deal this time. Some SoftBank executives have reportedly raised questions whether the WeWork deal is overvalued, saying a company in the business of offi...

23Jan By AnkitaNo Comments

News

Ex- Googler Amit Singhal Joins Uber

Amit Singhal, the father of google search ranking system now joining Uber as SVP of Engineering. The news itself was published by Amit Singhal on his blog, After 15 wonderful years at Google working on search, I wasn’t sure that I would find an opportunity as exciting or potentially world-changing. But having spent hours with Travis and many others at the company, I can confidently say Uber fits the bill. First and foremost, I am a huge fan of Uber’s product. Like many people, I can’t remember life before you could push a button and have a car show up in minutes. But what’s most exciting to me is the real-world impact this simple idea—push a button, get a ride—is having in cities around the world. Uber’s technology is transforming urban mobility. My children may never need to own ...

Uber Launches First Electric Car Fleet in Madrid

22Dec By PriyankaNo Comments

News

Uber Launches First Electric Car Fleet in Madrid

Ride-hailing service Uber Technologies launched in Madrid on Thursday its first fleet of electric cars. In Spain's capital city, as elsewhere, Uber's service of matching private car owners with passengers has prompted anger among the heavily-regulated taxi sector. The company hopes the introduction of cleaner cars will help improve its image in a city governed by left-wing, environmentally mayor Manuela Carmena, said Carles Lloret, managing director of Uber for southern Europe. Madrid's city administration in November unveiled new measures at combating pollution, from limiting private traffic in the centre to tightening speed limits on access roads. "We want to do things that are in line with what the town hall wants," Lloret said. Regulation and hostility from local taxi firms...

Ola, Uber Welcomed Indian Government Decision on Regulating The Taxi Industry

22Dec By NitishNo Comments

News

Ola, Uber Welcomed Indian Government Decision on Regulating The Taxi Industry

Leading ride-hailing firms have praised an Indian policy blueprint on regulating the taxi industry, saying it would offer their app-based services a chance to flourish despite their concerns about price caps. A committee set up by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways recently published its findings, stating that India needed one regulatory framework for the taxi industry to promote mobility and discourage car ownership. It also said that aggregators, such as Uber, Ola and Meru, should be included under a "fair, uniform and transparent" regulatory framework, along with radio taxis and traditional city taxis. The report's recommendations came against a backdrop of battles with city authorities on issues such as dynamic, or "surge", pricing that the ride hailing firms say they ne...