Companies

Uber launches ‘Hourly Rentals’ on-demand service in 17 cities

KR Srivat New Delhi | Updated on June 08, 2020 Published on June 08, 2020

Uber intends to roll out ‘Hourly Rentals’ service on a pan-India basis in the next couple of weeks.   -  K_BHAGYA PRAKASH

New service to cater to multi-hour, multi-stop needs of riders without having to book multiple trips

You can now as an Uber rider enjoy the flexibility to retain the vehicle and driver at your disposal for running multiple errands or multiple stops in your journey. Ride hailing major Uber has now launched its on-demand intra-city service ‘Hourly Rentals’ in 17 cities in Indian market, a top official said.

This service, which comes with an affordable starting price point of ₹189 for a one hour/10 Km package, would allow riders an option to select from its App multiple hourly packages, up to a maximum of 12- hours (120 kms), Prabhjeet Singh, Head of Cities for India and South Asia, Uber told BusinessLine.

Singh sees ‘Hourly Rentals’ service as a big growth driver for Uber in India. This service would also be welcome among the driver partners as it will allow higher utilisation for them and provide an additional earning opportunity, he said.

Plans

He also said that Uber intends to roll out ‘Hourly Rentals’ service on a pan-India basis in the next couple of weeks.

“As cities open up post the lockdown, many of our riders will have new use cases and different needs from Uber, one of which is keeping their Uber with them for a longer duration as they go through their day.

Hourly Rentals is our solution for that. It allows users to book their Uber for multiple hours with flexible and affordable packages, make multiple steps on their journey, and of course these rides will provide the highest possible safety standards. For our drivers, this offers them yet another opportunity to earn on the platform,” he said.

Singh said that COVID-19 has accelerated Uber’s plan to bring the ‘Hourly Rentals’ service to India, but added that this service should not be seen as a response to COVID-19.

“Even pre COVID there was reasonably large market for a service where riders would like to keep the vehicle and driver at their disposal for running multiple errands or multiple stops. But what COVID-19 has done is now there is a further increase in demand for this service. We now expect a larger number of riders to opt in for ‘Hourly Rentals’,” he said.

Cities

The 17 cities where the ‘Hourly Rentals’ service is available are Delhi NCR, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chennai, Jaipur, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar, Coimbatore, Ludhiana, Chandigarh, Kochi, Lucknow, Guwahati, Kanpur and Bhopal.

Published on June 08, 2020

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