Uber to Launch Private Car-Pooling Service in Delhi on 16 December

The cab-sharing service provider looks to benefit from the govt. attempt to curb pollution.

Cab-hailing app Uber today said it will now allow private car owners in the city to offer rides to passengers, a move that will help the US-based firm meet the heavy demand expected once the state government implements its odd-even formula. Introduction of the new feature from December 16 will also allow Uber to tap into a pool of over 27 lakh private cars in the city and make travel 10-30 percent cheaper for passengers opting to share rides.

In the first eight months in LA after we launched our carpool service, passengers did over five million car pool trips, cutting the number of kilometres driven across town by 12.7 million and carbon dioxide pollution by 1,400 metric tonnes,” he added. “We don’t need more cars on the road, what we need is better utilisation as a number of seats go vacant in a ride. Using our platform, private car owners can offer rides to others and thus reduce congestion and pollution in the capital over time

Gagan Bhatia, General Manager, North India, Uber

The Delhi government will implement its much debated odd-even car scheme from 1 January 2016, allowing vehicles with license plates ending with odd and even numbers to ply on alternate days. The scheme will be reviewed after first 15 days and then the government will study its impact and decide if the plan will be extended further or not.

In October, Uber had inked an agreement with the Punjab government to run a pilot to test peer-to-peer ride-sharing. While ride sharing in private cars is an evolved concept in the US market for cab hailing companies, the trend is yet to pick up in India. Currently, Uber only has drivers with commercial licences on board in India.

Uber has over 2.5 lakh registered driver partners on its platform in India and is present in 22 cities, the highest in any country outside the US. The company, which competes with Ola and other cab companies like Meru in India, has ride sharing facility available in Bengaluru as well as other international cities like San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Austin, and Paris.

On the Uber app, users will now be presented with two options under ‘UberGo’ when they key in their destination – whether they want to share the ride or travel solo along with the estimated price for both. The service will be available between 7:00 am and 9:00 pm in the evening.