Uber is now cheaper than Delhi autos, charges Rs.7/km

 

Uber is now cheaper than a Delhi auto-rickshaw. On Friday, the ride-sharing service announced new revised fares where its Go service now costs only Rs.7 per kilometres. Uber Go is the lowest SKU of the service, which offers an air-conditioned hatchback as a taxi.
In comparison, in Delhi people have to pay Rs.8.5/km for auto-rickshaw.
Uber has also reduced fares of its Uber Black and Uber X services. Uber X, which is its most popular SKU now costs Rs.9/Km, while Uber Black is Rs.12/km. Uber Black is the premium SKU, which offers luxury cars.

This new price cut comes a day after reports that suggest the government of India may ban Uber's IP address, making the app unusable in India. Back in December, the service was banned in Delhi after one of its drivers allegedly raped a passenger. The incident highlighted that the service was "illegally" operating in India as it lacked permit to run taxi services. But after a month the company applied for the radio taxi permit. It is yet to get the permit but just like Ola Cabs it is up and running.
On Friday, Uber India on Twitter announced the price cut with a hashtag -- #UberLovesIndia -- that suggests the price cut could be an emotional appeal to its users so that popular opinion can be turned into its favour, Despite the rape case, the service has proven to be popular in the country as its service is seamless and reliable as opposed to other taxi services.

It has always been competitive in terms of pricing, but now, it is cheaper than even the iconic rickshaws of the capital, which charge Rs.8.5/killometer. Uber claims that a ride from Connaught Place, which is the central hub of Delhi to the international airport will cost a customer Rs.128 using Uber Go.

"You no longer have to stand in queues outside airports & railway stations to get a Taxi OR get drenched during the monsoons hailing an Auto. Nothing can beat the fares and the convenience of moving around in an Uber," Uber claimed in a blog post.
Uber has also faced stiff competition in India. Ride services like Meru allegedly lobbied against it which led to the RBI ordering it to use the standard two-factor authentication payment system used in the country for online credit card use. OLA Cabs, a start-up, which provides a service similar to Uber, has even attained funding from Japanese giant SoftBank.