"Our India business is not about milestones"

Prabhjeet Singh, President of Uber India and South Asia, talks about how the ride-hailing giant is moving towards profitability, helping drivers earn more, while focussing on its primary concern, the passengers 

Marking a decade of operations in India, Uber is strategically broadening its service spectrum across cars, autorickshaws, two-wheelers and buses, along with intercity travel alternatives. This multi-mode approach is helping it retain customers within the platform, while offering users services at different price points. Concurrently, says Prabhjeet Singh, President of Uber India and South Asia, the company is actively engaged in initiatives to enhance drivers’ earning opportunities in a fiercely competitive market like India. It involves an increased focus on CNG vehicles and transition to electric vehicles (EVs) that can help driver partners curtail operational costs. In an exclusive interview with Business Today’s Binu Paul, Singh says there is still a lot more to do in India and the company is here to stay. Edited excerpts:

Q: In the past 10 years, how has Uber India established its position, both in the local market and within Uber’s global operations?

A: We have seen India welcome us with open arms. We have built a very large business with a strong market leadership. We have done more than 3 billion trips to date here. Today, we have more than 800,000 active drivers, doing one to five trips each week. Our drivers have earned over ₹50,000 crore through the platform since 2013. Three million drivers have earned via the Uber app. We do much more than 500 million trips a year. And we are one of the fastest growing geographies for Uber at this scale.