Uber betting on India, Mexico and Brazil to drive growth for its company

The Dollar Business Bureau 

The beleaguered cab aggregator, Uber, wants to concentrate on India, Brazil, and Mexico, to drive growth for the company and to ensure that it sustains the competition from Ola. 

Speaking to the media, Uber SVP (Global Business) David Richter told reporters, "There are three countries that we are betting on -- India, Mexico, and Brazil. We have seen phenomenal growth in India, in July this year over last, we have seen 115 per cent growth." Richter said the company is focussing on launching solutions that enhance the customer experience in India and has taken a number of steps in that direction. The latest being the introduction of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) UPI-based payment on its platform that will enhance the experience of both riders and the driver partners.

"UPI integration will bring millions of riders and driver partners into the digital payments ecosystem, offering them another secure and seamless payment interface and bolster the nation's digital payment revolution," Richter said. 

Richter said India, which is also one of its largest markets outside the US, will remain a priority for the company globally. 

Talking about the introduction of initiatives like UPI, Minister of Electronics and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government's Digital India has been a "transformative program". 

"The most important component of Digital India is that we must have technologies that are affordable, inclusive and developmental," he said. 

He highlighted how engaged Indians are with products like WhatsApp, digital payments and the rising smartphone adoption in the country. 

"I would urge all the bankers also to ensure that digital payment becomes a success by proper coordination with low-cost technologies," he added. 

Uber announced the integration of UPI with its app in partnership with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and banking partners Axis Bank and HDFC Bank. 

The move will enable over 4.5 lakh registered drivers on the Uber platform use UPI to receive payments. 

Earlier Uber allowed its users to pay through Paytm mobile wallet, debit/credit cards or through cash.

With this integration, users can pay using UPI right from the Uber app by entering their UPI PIN.

Ola had already integrated UPI into its platform in April. 

UPI-based transactions have been growing and stood at over 11 million in July. UPI was launched in August last year.