Uber starts Private Car Pooling

“Strike when the iron is hot” seems to the motto of the cab hailing company Uber, and they are living up to it.

On Monday they announced a new service – “Private Car Pooling”.

Starting from December 16^th, Delhiites will be able to tap into a pool of over 27 lakh private cars in the city to be able to pool in a car together. This will make the travel 10-30% cheaper for passengers while reducing the congestion on the roads as well. This move will help the US based firm meet the heavy demand expected once the state government implements its odd-even formula.

“We don’t need more cars on the road, what we need is better utilisation as a number of seats go vacant in a ride. Using our platform, private car owners can offer rides to others and thus reduce congestion and pollution in the capital over time,” Uber North India General Manager Gagan Bhatia told.

With the Delhi government planning to implement it’s much debated odd-even car scheme from January 1, 2016, allowing vehicles with license plates ending with odd and even numbers to ply on alternate days. The scheme will be reviewed after first 15 days and then the government will study its impact and decide if the plan will be extended further or not.

Uber had inked an agreement with the Punjab government to run a pilot to test peer-to-peer ride-sharing. While ride sharing in private cars is an evolved concept in the US market for cab hailing companies, the trend is yet to pick up in India. Currently, Uber only has drivers with commercial licences on board in India.