India's only electric car maker, Mahindra has teamed up with Uber to explore the deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) on the cab aggregator's platform in several cities across India.
The companies will deploy hundreds of electric vehicles in Delhi and Hyderabad, in Phase 1 by end of February 2018, followed by other cities. Mahindra’s electric vehicles on the Uber platform will include the e2oPlus hatch and the eVerito sedan.
Through Mahindrda-Uber alliance, Uber drivers can avail a package which will include Mahindra electric vehicles at competitive prices, attractive financing and insurance premiums as well as comprehensive maintenance packages from Mahindra.
Further, to make this model sustainable, both companies will work closely with public and private players who are in the process of setting up a common-use charging stations across multiple locations in the cities. Mahindra will also offer drivers with education and training related to various aspects of electric vehicles.
The aim of deploying electric vehicles is to reduce urban pollution in reducing urban pollution plaguing several Indian cities and minimize health hazards.
Source
Taxi-hailing app Uber has added a new feature to its platform, which will make sharing rides with friends even easier.
The Uber app in India now allow riders to add multiple stops in their ride, and this will be useful to pick up and drop off friends anytime during your trip. However, you can only add up to three stops total.
How to add additional stops to your Uber trip
1. Open the Uber app and tap the "Where To?" box
2. Tap the "+" to the right of the box
3. Tap "Add a Stop" to add your first destination
4. Tap "Add a Stop" if you wish to add a second stop
Note: You can only add 2 extra stops
5. Tap "Save"
In addition, riders will also be able to make changes during the trip by adding and removing stops in real time. At the same time, the driver will receive the updated location to find the best suitable route.
It's worth noting that each stop should be under three minutes, otherwise the fares may change to include additional time you spend waiting at each stop.
The final fare will include the time and distance rates on trips with the multiple stops. Additionally, you can split the fare of the trip as well, but it will be for the entire ride, not split by the cost to each stop. However, the feature is now available for UberPOOL rides.
Uber today launched its food delivery service app called UberEATS in India to take on FoodPanda, Zomato, Swiggy and other food delivery service platform.
UberEATS made its debut in the US, after piloting the service in Los Angeles as UberFresh back in 2014. The first Asian country to get UberEATS was Singapore back in March, 2016, and later expanded to Tokyo, Japan and Bangkok and Thailand. It is currently live in 26 countries and in 78 cities around the world.
It's worth mentioning that UberEATS is a standalone app, and its services is not integrated into the Uber app. The app is available for both Android and iOS devices. There's also a website ubereats.com that works even on slower network.
The delivery service will be available initially in Mumbai, followed by six other cities (Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad and Kolkata) by the end of this year. In Mumbai, Uber has partnered with over 200 restaurants including The Bohri Kitchen, Nom Nom, The Bombay Canteen, The Good Wife, Fresh Menu, Le 15, Coffee By Di Bella, Krispy Kreme, Chillies and and more to offer a wide selection of food options.
The company says that you will be able to order seven days a week, round the clock, as long as the restaurants are operation through the app. The food prices are set by restaurant partners, according to their own menu, however, there’s a delivery charge of Rs 15 on each order and no minimum order size.
To start using UberEATS, you have to first download the app. Next, enter your address where you'd like your food delivered. You can even browse by restaurants, price, speed and cuisine type. Now place the order. You can also choose items that you want delivered right away, or schedule for later, whenever most convinient for you. UberEATS will accept payment through PayTM, which is their launch partner. You can even track the progress of the delivery, right from the start till the order is delivered to your destination.
You can use also promocode EATNOW50 to get Rs. 50 off on your first 5 orders till 30 June in Mumbai.
Reliance Jio and Uber have announced a strategic partnership under which Uber will integrate various digital services of Reliance Jio including JioMoney into its platform and thereby boost the digital transaction ecosystem in India.
As a result Uber riders will be able to pay for their rides using JioMoney, and similarly JioMoney users will be able to request and pay for Uber rides within the JioMoney app.
Starting today, Uber will gradually rollout JioMoney options for its users across the country. To celebrate the partnership, both companies will offer exclusive incentives to every user paying for Uber rides through JioMoney.
Prior to Reliance Jio-Uber partnership, the cab aggregator offered payment through options such as PayTm wallet, cash, debit and credit cards.
Now you can request an Uber ride directly from your wrist if you have an Android Wear 2.0 smartwatch. The app will function as standalone, which means it will work completely on its own, without the need of a smartphone.
Similar to the mobile app, the smartwatch version, will let you find top destination with shortcuts to home and work. Besides booking rides, you can check driver's location before a ride, compare prices, ETA, and progress to the destination in real time.
Note that you will need to have a smartwatch running Android Wear 2.0 to download Uber from the built-in Play Store, or wait till your existing Android Wear watch gets updated to Wear 2.0. Currently only the LG Watch Style and LG Watch Sport run Wear 2.0
Via
Travel portal Cleartrip has integrated the services of ride-hailing app Uber onto its platform (app and website) to make travelling experience smoother.
With the integration, now after you book airline tickets or local activities on Cleartrip, you will also be able to book an Uber ride on Cleartrip without leaving the app or website. This can be done through the option − "Get there with Uber" − which is present at the bottom of the trip details page.
It's also worth mentioning that you don't need to have Uber app installed on your smartphone to access this feature. However, when you book for a Uber ride on Cleartrip, you'll be forwarded to Uber services, and then you'll have to add login details, and then book a ride.
Furthermore, the integration will also enable Uber riders to receive recommendations from Cleartrip, on happening events and experiences to do in the city they are present in.
The new feature is available on the updated version of Cleartrip app.
U.S based Uber has announced the launch of UberWEDDINGS in India. The popular on-demand app based taxi service has partnered with wedding planner website WedMeGood, to offer cashless mobility solution for easier wedding-related travel service, which will be available in 12 cities across India by February 2017.
With UberWEDDINGS, you will be able to pre-book rides for bachelor/ bachelorette parties, dinners and other wedding-related celebrations. Uber will also make it easy for hosts to keep track of their travel expenses without worrying about co-coordinating pick-ups and drops of guests, parking and waiting charges.
Prior to the wedding, hosts can book a specific number of promo code based Uber rides on WedMeGood websites, which can be shared with guests or family members during wedding preparations. Hosts can also customize the promo codes with their name or wedding hashtag that will be printed by Uber. The customized promo-codes will be made available within three working days of purchase request and can be shared with guests as well.
UberWEDDINGS will be
available in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad,
Jaipur, Kolkata, Ludhiana, New Delhi, Pune, Udaipur and Lucknow. Apart
from India, the brand offers the service in Washington DC, San
Francisco, New York, Boston, and Los Angeles.
Google is making it easier to book a cab on Ola or Uber by integrating the cab services in the app. Made available on Google Map earlier this year, the feature will now be accessible straight in the search app and mobile browser as well.
Users looking to book a cab online will be presented with fair estimates, pick up times and availability of cab nearby from both Ola and Uber in a dedicated tab for ride services. When you request for a specific information such as "Taxi to the airport" or "Uber/Ola to Bangalore airport" the app/browser will direct users to select a service and then automatically opens the desired app to book the ride, with just a single tap.
In case you don't have the Ola/Uber app installed on your device, Google search will show a link to install the same. Note that the feature is only available for mobile devices, and not on PCs.
Source
Taxi aggregator Uber has slashed the fares of uberGO by up to 22 percent in 10 cities, making the serivce more affordable. This move will also intensify the competition with rival Ola. The rate cut are as follows – Pune (15%), Ahmedabad (17%), Jodhpur (22%), Udaipur (22%), Ajmer (18%), Indore (9%), Nagpur (9%), Vizag (16%), Mangalore (20%), Trivandrum (18%).
New uberGo rates
- Pune – Base Fare Rs. 35 | Rs. 6 per KM
- Ahmedabad – Base Fare Rs. 20 | Rs. 5 per KM
- Jodhpur – Base Fare Rs. 25 | Rs. 7 per KM
- Udaipur – Base Fare Rs. 25 | Rs. 7 per KM
- Ajmer – Base Fare Rs. 25 | Rs. 7 per KM
- Indore – Base Fare Rs. 30 | Rs. 5 per KM
- Nagpur – Base Fare Rs. 40 | Rs. 5 per KM
- Vizag – Base Fare Rs. 40 | Rs. 5 per KM
- Mangalore – Base Fare Rs. 30 | Rs. 7 per KM
- Trivandrum – Base Fare Rs. 40 | Rs. 7 per KM
Regarding the price cut, Uber on the official blog, said: "The upside of these price cuts for riders is obvious as
your Uber rides become even more affordable. But it’s also important to
note that with increased demand drivers get busier as well. More demand
increases driver efficiency on the road, resulting in more trips per
hour, and less idle time while driving on Uber. And with even more affordable fares, we believe Uber can be a viable
alternative to people driving their own cars with all the hassle and
cost that parking brings."
Currently, Uber has presence in over 400 cities in 70 countries. In India, it has
services in over 25 cities, the highest compared to any other country
outside the U.S.
Less than a week of piloting its bike taxis in Bengaluru, Ola is withdrawing the service. The company has taken down the bike icon on the Ola app.
Uber and Ola announced the launch of bike taxi services last week to take on the traffic-prone areas of Bengaluru and just a day after the launch were declared illegal by the Karnataka State Transport Department. The authorities also cautioned the people not to use the service. The Regional Transport authority also seized several bike taxis belonging to Uber and Ola, as they were being operated without a permit.
Uber's Bike taxi services are still active and the uberMoto icon is still present in the app for booking bike taxis, but the crackdown continues as Karnataka Government on Friday seized 62 bike taxis belonging to Uber for violating the Motor Vehicles Act and to operate without permission.
The bike taxis run by Uber and Ola are white number plated two-wheelers and they do not comply with the rules. Also the drivers don't have a badge, which is a must for commercial vehicle driver. Commercial vehicle must first make an application to the RTA (Road Transport Authority) in their respective district to start business operations, followed by which a committee including the deputy commissioner of a particular district as the chairman, RTO as the secretary and SP or DCP as the member will consider the application and deal with it according to the requirement. If a company fails to follow these rules, then it will be an illegal operation.
Via : IANS | Gadgets360
Leading app-based cab aggregator rivals Ola and Uber just recently started testing motorbike ride hailing services in Bengaluru, and now it has been declared illegal by the Karnataka State Transport Department.
The department has cautioned people not to use the services and says that users will not be eligible for insurance, if the vehicles are involved in any accident. The state department also said that Ola and Uber have not obtained permit or license to operate the motorbike ride services in Bengaluru, and have to obtain RTA (regional transport authority) permission to in case to operate.
The bike taxi services are currently being run as non-transport
vehicles, and in-order to operate in Karnataka, they should be converted
into transport vehicles. The bikes offered by Ola and Uber have no
badges and yellow boards, which is a must requirement for transport
vehicles.
Additionally, Regional Transport Authority has seized several bike taxis of Ola and Uber, because they were operation without a permit.
To recall, Ola's pilot Bike Taxis service is offering customers
ride for as low as Rs 2 per km. The minimum fare is Rs 30 with Rs 2 charged per
km and Re 1 per minute of trip time. Uber's'uberMOTO base price is Rs. 15, followed by Rs 3 per km and Rs 1 per min of ride-time charges.
Via
Ride hailing services Uber and Ola announced the launch of their respective bike taxi services pilot in Bengaluru. Uber's bike taxi service is called UberMoto while, Ola's is known as Ola Bike. The offering will be ideal for short rides.
UberMoto has a base fare of Rs. 15 and will charge Rs. 3 per km, and Rs. 1 for every minute, while Ola has a base far of Rs. 30 and will charge, Rs. 2 for every km and Rs. 1 per minute.
Uber said that it will offer GPS tracking, 2-way feedback, and
ability to share trip details with family and friends. The company is
also taking registration from people who own moto bikes and scooter, to
become drivers on the platform and recoup the costs of their trip. If
interested you can register here - https://get.uber.com/cl/bangalorebike/. Additionally, all pillion riders will be
provided with helmets.
Ola says that the bike taxis will offer the same features as its cab
services, including driver details display upfront, SOS, live tracking
and payment with Ola Money. Just like Uber, Ola will also provide helmets for all pillion riders.
Currently UberMoto is available in select location in Bengaluru
between 7am and 9pm. Uber says that it will continue to extend
uberMOTO's coverage over time. Ola Bike is also currently available only in the city of Bangalore and will roll out in other cities in coming months.
Uber recently launched the UberMOTO in Thailand's capital Bangkok, where it competes with GrabTaxi, which already lets users to book motorcycle taxis in some South East Asian countries.
Via
Facebook has forayed into the transportation business. The social network has announced its partnership with ride hailing service Uber to allow users to request an Uber ride directly from the Messenger app.
To use this feature, users must have the most recent version of Messenger. Then they can call an Uber by tapping the More menu and choosing Transportation option or they can search directly for Uber and tap the car icon. Requesting a ride also works within the conversations with friends, just by tapping on an address shared in the thread. Users will then receive driver status updates, and they can notify their friends that they've called a ride. The payments are handled with a private Messenger conversation with Uber.
On the blog post, Facebook states that, users will not need to have the Uber app installed on their smartphone to use this feature. As an introductory offer, you can get a free ride the first time you use this feature with Uber.
The new service will be first introduced in the United States in cities
that have Uber, and plans for international expansion later. Currently,
the new service is in testing mode and will be available to select users
in cities in the U.S where Uber operates.
Source
Leading app based taxi service rivals, Uber and Ola have launched their social ride sharing service in Delhi-NCR. Ola's and Uber's ride sharing services are expected to reduce the surge pricing which has been plaguing the online cab services in Delhi for some time now.
Uber's ride sharing service is called UberPool, while Ola's is called Ola Share.With the ride sharing service, users in Delhi can now, share their ride
and split the cost with another person who is requesting a ride along a similar
route.
Using the uberPOOL services, riders can save about 10-30%
of their ride charges (as compared with uberGO). The service will be available between 7am to 9am, seven days a week, but it can be requested only from select places in Delhi. Each request can have a maximum of 2 riders per pick up. You will
be matched with another requester, for up to 4 riders in total.
How to use uberPOOL?
- Slide over to the uberGO option on your app
- Set your pickup location and drop-off locations and request
- You’ll see 2 options – “Share your car” and “Get your own car”
- “Share your car” is uberPOOL with a guaranteed fare upfront, so you know exactly what you’re going to pay
- Request! You might get matched with another rider going the same way
- Regardless of whether you’re matched or not, the fare will always be less than uberGO
- Currently uberPOOL is available only between 7AM – 9PM, 7 days a
week. You can choose to use Cash, PayTM, Airtel Money, Credit or even
Debit card.
The Ola Share will be available to all users in Delhi over the coming weeks in a phased manner. It will be available in the Ola app as a separate category. With Ola share, customers stand to benefit from a flat 50 percent discount on Ola share fares. Ola Share offers users with an option to choose their fellow passenger, who plan
to travel on the same route, with the help of the 'Social
Groups' feature on its app, through which friends or colleagues from workplace can come together to share rides. A user can join multiple groups or simply choose to share a ride with anyone. A maximum of three people can share a
cab together via Ola Share.
Note that, Ola Share and uberPool went live on the same day in Bengaluru as well in October. India based Ola and U.S based Uber have been competing with each other for sometime now to take the top spot. Ola recently joined forces with China's Didi Kuaidi, US based Lyft and Singapore's GrabTaxi to create a global ridesharing partnership to take on Uber, and together they will offer seamless coverage for travelers in India, China, Southeast Asia and the US. It looks like the cab hailing market is getting heated up.
Ola announced the launch of its ride sharing service dubbed Ola Share. The service is currently available in beta for select users in Bengaluru at an introductory fare of Rs. 50. Ola Share uses advanced algorithms to match users who plan to travel on the same route in real-time
Ola Share offers you an option to choose your fellow passenger, who plan
to travel on the same route, with the help of the 'Social
Groups' feature. When a user selects a drop location, Ola will match users from common groups who are also looking for a can on the same route after which the driver gets an alert with navigation to their pickup location on his device. A maximum of three people can share a cab together via the service.
You can also create your own social groups inside the app by providing email contacts or friends, family and colleagues. A user can join multiple groups or choose a to share a ride with anyone. The service will be rolled out across five cities over the next three months.
The 'Share' service is Ola's answer to Uber's uberPOOL that went live in Bengaluru earlier today. The service also lets users share the ride and cost with another person who is traveling to the same route.
The uberPOOL service is available only between 7am to 9pm, 7 days a week. You can pay using PayTM, Airtel Money, Credit or Debit Card. Cash payment option will come soon. Each request can have a maximum of 2 riders per pick up. You will
be matched with another requester, for up to 4 riders in total.
Xiaomi is partnering with Uber to deliver phones in Singapore and
Malaysia on July 27. Customer will be able to order the Mi Note the same way they
hail the ride.
Both are teaming up for the launch of Mi Note in Singapore and Malaysia on July 27 that will let customers purchase the Mi Note right from the Uber app through an exclusive pre-launch flash sale. The Mi Note is priced S$ 569 in Singapore and RM1549 in Malaysia.
Xiaomi's Hugo Barra says "Today
we're announcing a unique partnership with Uber for on-demand delivery
of the new Mi Note we just launched in Singapore and Malaysia. This is
an awesome and first-of-its-kind collaboration between two of the most
innovative tech startups in the world. The first sale will happen on
July 27."
To order Mi Note, customer have to follow the same process as calling for an Uber ride. You have to open the app and use the slider at the bottom of the screen to select Xiaomi (which
shows Xiaomi-orange colored Uber cars on the map equipped to deliver the
new smartphone) and hit request. Payment will be charged directly to the credit card tied to the Uber account and the Mi Note will be delivered to the customer within a few minutes.
The Mi Note features 5.7-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels) IPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor with Adreno 330 GPU, 3GB RAM, 16GB on-board storage, 13MP/4MP camera, 4G LTE, WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1. It is backed by 3000mAh battery and runs Android 4.4 KitKat with MIUI on top.
