An Uber driver who has completed 50,000 trips with the ride-hailing app opened up about his journey spanning nearly eight years. Hajrat Ali was born and raised in Uttar Pradesh, but has spent the last decade living in the Delhi NCR region, where he drives an Uber for a living.
Hajrat, who stays with his family in Delhi, credits Uber for allowing him to earn enough to support his wife and three children. All of his children study in private schools, with the eldest being 10 years old.
“I earn enough through Uber to educate them,” the cab driver told HT.com.
Highest earning in a month
In a video published on an Uber India Instagram account, Hajrat said that the highest he has managed to earn through Uber has been ₹1.2 lakh in a month. However, that figure was a one-off, and he acknowledged that earnings can vary from month to month.
Before joining Uber, Hajrat worked in his village repairing bike parts. He later moved to Delhi, where he took up stitching work. In 2014, he bought his first autorickshaw. He went on to purchase a second one, which was driven by his brother until he left for Gujarat.
{{/usCountry}}Before joining Uber, Hajrat worked in his village repairing bike parts. He later moved to Delhi, where he took up stitching work. In 2014, he bought his first autorickshaw. He went on to purchase a second one, which was driven by his brother until he left for Gujarat.
{{/usCountry}}Over time, Hajrat expanded his small fleet to three autorickshaws. However, the Covid-19 pandemic forced him to sell two of them. After that, he continued driving the remaining auto on Uber.
In 2024, Hajrat sold his autorickshaw and bought a car, continuing his journey on the Uber platform. He said his association with Uber began when he first bought an autorickshaw, marking a turning point in his working life.
A day in the life of an Uber driver
Hajrat’s day begins early. He told HT.com that he begins driving around 7am. “My last trip of the day is around 9pm. Sometimes 10pm,” he said.
His 14-hour work day is punctuated only by short breaks for food. In one day, he manages to complete 20 to 30 trips. Hajrat drives mostly in the Gurgaon area.
He says that most customers are nice. “Maybe 1 out of 100 customers could be rude, but most people are polite,” he said. (Also read: Indian-origin techie shares Delhi Uber driver’s fear of job loss after AI Summit: ‘'Main kya karoon, Madam?')