As the number of rides have drastically reduced amid the pandemic, ride sharing platform Uber has realigned its business priorities in India to focus on new services marking its foray into business to customer (B2C) logistics services. Over the past few weeks, Uber launched new services like UberMedic to help transport healthcare workers, Uber Essential to facilitate essential travel to hospitals, pharmacies and clinics and Last Mile Delivery to ensure everyday essentials, groceries and medicines could reach citizens despite the lockdown.
“We partnered with multiple e-commerce players like Bigbasket, Flipkart, Nature’s Basket, Delhivery, Tender Cuts, Medlife and successfully delivered more than 100,000 orders. We also launched our package delivery service ‘Uber Connect’ in 25 Indian cities, enabling residents to send and receive parcels from each other and also order items from shops while maintaining physical distancing,” an Uber spokesperson said.
Uber says that ridesharing services have resumed in more than 70 cities across the country and remains its core business. “Our goal remains rebooting the business by focusing on safety and ensuring every Uber ride is as safe as can be for riders, drivers and communities,” the spokesperson said.
Coming out of the lockdown, Uber says it is assessing riders needs in the ‘new normal’ and will determine which services to continue along with launching new ones like Uber Rentals. Uber Rentals is an 24/7 on-demand hourly rental service that allows you to make multiple stops on a trip.
“Our recently launched Uber Connect service has seen very encouraging results and generated positive rider and driver feedback. It is now available in 25 Indian cities including Bengaluru, Mysuru, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Chennai among others,” the spokesperson said.
Uber says the idea is to also be able to create livelihood opportunities for drivers. “We envision riders in the ‘new normal’ to expect the highest standards of safety, reliability and affordability. With our global experience and tech expertise, we are best placed to ensure safety for riders and drivers through our tech-led safety features, reliable door-to-door service at a tap of a button and affordable options at every price point through our range of multimodal mobility solutions,” the spokesperson added.
The ride hailing business across the globe has been hit hard due to the pandemic that has significantly reduced the number of people moving around. Uber laid off around 6,700 employees globally, which also impacted 600 employees in India as the company realigned its business strategies and cut down on non-core areas. It also shut its Mumbai office as part of its decision to shut 45 offices globally.