Uber is quietly testing flexible pricing in more than a dozen cities in India, a move that could help it expand its consumer base in the South Asian country and put pressure on rival ride-hailing platforms, including Ola and inDrive.
The flexible pricing service, called Uber Flex, began in 2016 India in October last year It has since expanded to more than a dozen cities, including Aurangabad, Ajmer, Bareilly, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Gwalior, Indore, Jodhpur and Surat, among others, TechCrunch has learned exclusively. Uber confirmed that its flexible pricing service has expanded.
“We are piloting this feature in some Tier 2 and 3 markets in India currently,” an Uber spokesperson said in an email response to TechCrunch.
The service, which was initially rolled out for taxis and later expanded to include auto-rickshaw rides, allows passengers to submit a specific fare quote for their journey. This differs from Uber’s standard dynamic pricing model, which moves up and down depending on supply, demand and traffic in a given area.
Uber Flex offers nine pricing points – with a default price set – to allow riders to choose the fare of their choice which will be shared with nearby drivers. Based on this fare, drivers can accept or reject the trip.
Uber’s rival InDrive, which operates in a number of Indian cities, allows passengers to bargain fares by manually setting a specific price for their trip. However, many InDrive drivers in the country have complained that passengers are offering them too low prices for their rides. InDrive has not yet addressed drivers’ concerns about aggressive passenger fare bargaining, instead noting that its “unique approach ensures drivers are compensated fairly while passengers enjoy a high-quality, affordable ride experience.”
“By offering drivers the option to counter-bid passenger fares, inDrive enhances the option for the driver to increase the price if they feel like it,” inDrive APAC director Roman Ermushin told TechCrunch while answering how inDrive addresses driver concerns about not doing so. It is moderately compensated.
“Drivers are often dissatisfied with prices on ride-hailing platforms, as they yearn to receive fair compensation for their services. With a focus on fairness and transparency, inDrive displays the recommended price in the app, which is usually slightly lower than other apps, and has become This is possible thanks to inDrive’s very low fees for drivers (about twice as much as competing fees, so the driver earns the same amount or more as with the higher prices on other apps).
Uber is trying to solve the problem of too-low fares faced by some inDrive drivers by not allowing riders to manually set a specific fare in Flexible Pricing mode. It also sets a maximum and minimum price.
The service is available for affordable Uber Go rides and intercity taxis in some cities, while in some cities it is offered for premium taxis and auto rickshaw rides. Passengers can pay their fare in cash or via digital payment. Furthermore, while Uber’s flexible pricing model is available for different modes, the raid-sharing giant does not apply it to all modes in a single city.
Uber is testing Flex in other markets including Lebanon, Kenya and Latin America. TechCrunch has learned that the company is also looking to test the new service model soon in metro cities in India, including Delhi and Mumbai.
In addition to Uber Flex, the San Francisco-headquartered company is testing various services in India to meet local demand. These include Uber taxis in Mumbai, which offers traditional taxi drivers as an option in the city, and a wait-and-save model in cities including Mumbai, Guwahati and Chandigarh to allow passengers to beat high prices and book a cab in advance when it is available at a cheaper price. Rent.
The app-based taxi market in India has expanded recently, with new players entering the urban transportation space in the past few months. Companies including BluSmart and Evera are offering electric taxis, while Ola, Uber and inDrive have taken on a large number of petrol-powered taxis. Last year, Rapido, a taxi startup, also started offering its taxi service in the country to expand its revenue and reach new customers.
However, Indian taxi drivers – regardless of the platform they operate on – suffer because of it Relatively low compensation and lack of security. Many are unclear about whether they will stay in business once their current vehicles become obsolete.