India-specific challenges were the main reason behind the redesigning, revamp and launch of the new rider app by global taxi-hailing firm Uber.

The company rolled out its new app a couple of weeks ago in about 500 cities across the world with several new features and functions — one-touch click to book a ride, using artificial intelligence to locate pick-up points, complimenting a driver, creation of categories as per fares — to create a more seamless user experience, after collecting data on various areas of pain points in developing markets, especially India.

‘Big, bold bet’

Shailesh Sawlani, General Manger - Mumbai and West, Uber India, told BusinessLine that, “This new improved app is a big, bold bet on challenges specific to India, where bad network still remains a major issue resulting in cancellation of rides and poor pick-ups. We are now using artificial intelligence and machine-learning to solve these problems and improve efficiency in terms of time, quality and affordability.”

Uber is also working on adding more features — such as people search (to help locate a person), integrating calender events and on-trip integrations — that will keep the rider hooked on to the app for a longer time. This would include tie-ups with several chat messengers, music-streaming apps and restaurants.

All these features will be launched by the end of this year, Sawlani said, adding that this will help Uber acquire more customers in an effective way and have a competitive advantage by improving the quality of rides.

Sawlani said India is the biggest market for the San Francisco-based taxi aggregator outside of the US, and that the company is betting big to get more riders on its platform.

Related Topics