US-based cab aggregator Uber is hiring more techies for its engineering centers in the country as it looks to roll out more innovations from India in areas like payments, bookings and rider and driver experience.

1. wwww.digitalerra.com
India’s Ride Hailers Pushfor DifferentiatedServices
US-based cab aggregator Uber is hiring more techies for its engineering centers in the country as
it looks to roll out more innovations from India in areas like payments, bookings and rider and
driver experience.
#DigitalErra Thought Corner
US-based cab aggregator Uber is hiring more techies (number unspecified) for its engineering
centers in the country as it looks to roll out more innovations from India in areas like payments,
bookings and rider and driver experience.
“We are hiring rapidly. We are looking for product managers, data scientists, designers etc,”
Uber India Head of Engineering Apurva Dalal told reporters.
Uber has two engineering centers in India — in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The teams work on
areas like safety, payments, driver growth, maps, vehicle telematics and rider experience, among
others.
It currently has about 100 people in these two centers.
Uber’s Away Match With Ola
Uber is locked in an intense battle for market leadership in India with homegrown firm Ola. It
has been working on introducing features designed for Indian markets, including introduction of
cash payments for rides.

2. wwww.digitalerra.com
“There are many challenges that are specific to the Indian market. Things like patchy Internet
connectivity and poor mapping coverage are some challenges that we are trying to solve and
solutions are extended to other markets that may face similar challenges,” he said.
India is the largest market outside the US for Uber and accounts for about 12 per cent of all Uber
trips globally, as of last year. In India, the company operates in 29 cities.
Uber is also engaged in discussion with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) for
integrating unified payment interface (UPI) on its platform. Using UPI, customers can link their
account of any bank (participating in UPI) to create a UPI ID and instantly make payments in a
safe and secure manner. Meanwhile, Bengaluru-based Ola already allows users to pay for rides
using UPI.
 Ola
Ola is expanding Ola Play, a content platform, as well as its nascent electric vehicle business to
differentiate its services from Uber.
The company is betting that Play’s unique experience will attract a large number of customers
and keep them away from Uber. The other big initiative this year at Ola is its electric vehicle
business. The company plans to introduce electric cabs and rickshaws in at least eight cities by
next March. It may add electric bikes later to the fleet. These initiatives will be funded by
SoftBank Group Corp., Ola’s largest investor, the Indian government, car and bike makers and
Ola.
While Ola will expand and continue its cab-hailing business, the proposed move into electric car
manufacturing underscores the electric vehicles opportunity in India.
Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal plans to invest $2 billion to run one million electric vehicles across
India by 2020.
Conclusion
Arvind Panagariya, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog said, “A rapidly developing India is at the
cusp of making such a transition to new mobility solutions.”
Ola is fighting an expensive market share battle with Uber, the world’s largest and richest start-
up. It’s important for Ola to make its Play and electric vehicle initiatives work as they are ways
to help it build a customer base different from that of Uber.