Uber India: Uber rolls out ‘Uber One’ loyalty programme in India

Ride-hailing firm Uber has rolled out its loyalty programme ‘Uber One’ in India offering monthly and annual plans to its users. The launch of the subscription service comes at a time when the US-based company’s India outfit is facing rising competition from younger platforms such as WestBridge Capital-backed Rapido and Google-backed Namma Yatri.

According to the information available on Uber’s app, it has priced the subscription service at Rs 149 per month and Rs 1,499 for the annual plan. However, it is offering discounts as high as 50% to certain users on the monthly plan.

As part of the loyalty programme, Uber is offering up to 10% credits on ride-hailing for four-wheelers, three-wheelers and two-wheelers, in addition to its parcel delivery offering.

These credits, akin to cashbacks, that customers will be able to redeem on future rides.

It is also offering priority support for members of Uber One. The company is also offering a complimentary three-month subscription of food delivery firm Zomato’s loyalty programme Gold.

In the quarterly earnings call on October 31, the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) Dara Khosrowshahi had said, ” (Uber One) members spend three times more than non members. Retention rates are higher for members as well. And with 25 million members, up 70% year-on-year, you can see the momentum as it relates to that part of our business as well.”

In India, Bengaluru-based Rapido, which has clocked rapid growth over the last year, raised $200 million led by WestBridge Capital earlier this year, and is aggressively expanding in the four-wheeler ride-hailing segment. In addition to facing competition on the users front, Rapido is also putting up a fight against Uber and Ola on driver acquisition. Compared to the traditional commission model, under which the larger players charge a fixed percentage to drivers, Rapido has rolled out a subscription model charging drivers a one-time fee for a certain number of rides.

Rapido also has a rewards programme under which it offers its users coins and vouchers after every ride — on the lines of an airline’s frequent flier programme. It also has a power pass offering, which provides discounts to bike taxi customers using the service frequently.

Both Uber and Ola had tried out the ride pass programme pre-pandemic for certain users but did not scale the offering.