A file photo of Minister Priyank Kharge with Prabhjeet Singh, president of Uber India and South Asia, during an inspection of the shuttle service in Bengaluru.
Credit: Uber
Bengaluru: Uber India chief said on Wednesday that the ride-hailing company was "very much" exploring plans to introduce a shuttle bus service in Bengaluru.
Prabhjeet Singh, president, Uber India and South Asia, described the Uber Shuttle service as a "viable and affordable" solution for "every large city".
"It is already live in Delhi and Kolkata, and a large percentage of our city commutes happens through Uber Shuttle," he said in response to a question from DH at a product launch in Bengaluru.
"As the tech multimodal capital, Bengaluru has a natural space for private players to offer shuttle bus services to complement whatever is already there in the public transport infrastructure. Those dialogues are underway. These are big shifts. These require ongoing dialogues to take along multiple stakeholders. And I'm confident that there will be a window in the future where we will be able to bring that service to Bengaluru," he explained.
Uber had unveiled the service in the city during the Bengaluru Tech Summit in November 2024. Singh had announced plans to explore introducing the service along the tech corridor of the Outer Ring Road (ORR), notorious for traffic jams.
Uber Shuttle allows users to book seats on air-conditioned buses running on predetermined long-distance routes.
However, Karnataka has dismissed proposals to allow private players to offer city bus services.
In October, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy slammed BJP MP L S Tejasvi Surya and former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai, who had suggested ending the BMTC's monopoly and allowing private bus operators within the city. Reddy had said that such people had never travelled by BMTC buses.
Namma Metro tickets now on Uber
Namma Metro users can now buy QR code-based tickets and access real-time information within the Uber app and make payments via UPI. Uber has rolled out the feature in partnership with the Union government's Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).
Uber Direct
The company also announced its foray into B2B logistics through Uber Direct, also powered by the ONDC.
The offering differs from Uber Courier, which is booked directly by customers in the Uber app. Under Uber Direct, users can place orders on a seller's app or website, and the delivery is fulfilled by Uber Direct without the consumer interacting with Uber until the delivery partner arrives.
"The product has gone live in Bengaluru today... with drivers fulfilling grocery deliveries for brands such as Zepto and KPN Farm Fresh. Uber Direct will be expanded to food delivery within a couple of weeks, fulfilling deliveries for global brands such as KFC, Burger King, Taco Bell, and popular Indian names such as Rebel Foods," it added.
The company is also planning to establish dedicated pickup and drop-off zones at railway stations, including in Bengaluru, Singh said.