Uber is embracing the country’s shift towards the cashless economy and is yet again looking to move one step ahead of its local arch-nemesis in India. According to a fresh report in Financial Express, the $68 billion ride-hailing giant has initiated talks with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in an attempt to introduce UPI-based payments option on its platform.
Presently, Uber provides you with more than one alternative to complete your payment after taking a ride in the taxi booked using their ride-hailing app. You can either simply pay using cash or have the ride fare be deducted from your debit/credit card you have synced with Uber.
The most simplified method will, however have to be the native Paytm integration that allows you to complete the payment directly from your wallet — without having to worry about anything. UPI will be another step in the positive direction towards simplifying a much-needed quirk of the payment process, i.e topping up the wallet. You’ll easily be able to pay taxi fares directly from your bank account using UPI.
This means Uber is now joining the growing list of tech giants who’ve decided to integrate UPI into their mobile apps to simplify payments. Truecaller has also debuted its UPI payments system, while messaging giants like WhatsApp and Hike are also planning to embed the said payment method into their apps. Commenting on the development, Apurva Dalal, Head of India Engineering at Uber said:
While nothing has been finalized yet, we are looking at various options with UPI being one of them, on how to make the entire system of payments extremely convenient for both drivers and riders.
The ride-hailing giant has not only initiated dialogue with the NPCI for integrating the payment system into their app but is also looking to expand its engineering force to work on newer innovations for India. Uber is planning to roll out new features in areas such as payments, bookings, and the overall rider-driver experience. Apurva comments on the same saying:
There are many challenges that are specific to the Indian market. Things like patchy Internet connectivity and poor mapping coverage are some challenges that we are trying to solve and solutions are extended to other markets that may face similar challenges. [Thus,] we are hiring rapidly. We are looking for product managers, data scientists, designers etc.
If you’re unaware, Uber presently has two engineering centers in the nation — one in Bengaluru and the other in Hyderabad. These teams, amounting to 100 employees, are working on several technologies to improve on areas such as safety, driver growth, mapping, vehicle telematics and most importantly the rider experience. There is currently no info on the number of new engineers Uber plans to hire as part of this initiative.
After its exit from China, Uber considers India and other South-east Asian countries as its prominent growth markets. It has been laying immense focus on improving its tech to rope in users from its arch-nemesis, homegrown ride-hailing giant Ola in the nation. The company recently debuted its redesigned app interface and has now also begun rolling out support for third-party integrations such as custom Snapchat filters and music streaming services. The addition of UPI payment option to the rider/driver app can be a nifty perk for the customers.
