Uber India CEO to meet Sitharaman with wishlist

NEW DELHI: Cab-hailing app Uber, which is seeking relaxations from the government on new regulations on taxi laws in India such as ride sharing, putting meter on

Published on: Sep 7, 2016, 10:22:34 IST

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NEW DELHI: Cab-hailing app Uber, which is seeking relaxations from the government on new regulations on taxi laws in India such as ride sharing, putting meter on taxi’s and cap regulating number of cabs in a city, is all set to meet commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman on September 8 to put forward its wish list.

Uber India’s CEO Amit Jain along with his team will be sharing the India investment plan for its subsidiary Uber Xchange, sources said.

This year, Uber India partnered with Xchange Leasing India to run its leasing business. The cars leased out to Uber drivers are owned by Xchange Leasing, a Mumbai-based leasing firm.

“Apart from this, they also want government’s support to build seamless urban mobility network building in India,” sources added.

Last month, Uber announced that it soon invest $1 billion (around Rs 6,688 crore) in India to expand operations in new cities, increase fleet size, subsidise rides and incentivise drivers. This is in addition to the $1 billion that Uber-founder Travis Kalanick had promised to invest during his India visit in January.

Uber has been going aggressive in this area to take on rival Ola and expand its own fleet, instead of depending upon drivers with their own cars.

Uber through this meeting is also going to push for are also likely to lay emphasis on the easing regulatory hurdles that it is facing from the government. The company is facing some regulatory overhangs.

The Delhi government has proposed that all cabs, including Uber and Ola, should have meters installed. Uber tracks distance using GPS.

Already Uber’s executives have held talks with DIPP secretary Ramesh Abhishek regarding the fresh investment in their India venture.

Uber currently has a balance sheet of $11 billion, and is also the world’s most valuable startup, with a valuation of $68 billion. With China, which required around a $1-billion investment every year, now out of the picture, a lot for Uber’s money is likely to head towards India.

Ola and Uber have been competing neck-to-neck for the last three years.

While Ola is still the leader in India, Uber is catching up.

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