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Business Standard
24 minutes ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Uber, Ola drivers strike in Mumbai, commuters face tough second day
As a large section of drivers working with cab aggregator platforms Uber and Ola remained on strike for the second consecutive day, commuters across Mumbai faced significant disruption. The drivers' demands include a fixed base fare similar to that of local taxis (kali-peeli), a reduction in aggregator commission rates, and a ban on bike taxis. Today's protest was concentrated in the Navi Mumbai area, where some commuters were reportedly forced to de-board cabs. Several cab drivers that Business Standard spoke to confirmed the incident and added that they were declining rides into areas where tensions were high. While booking cabs on Uber and Ola proved difficult, Rapido continued to operate a significant number of cabs from the kali-peeli segment. 'Uber and Ola take a lot of commission. On the other hand, Rapido does not. Also, once we complete the quota under the subscription model, Rapido allows us to take bookings,' said a Rapido driver who did not wish to be named. The base fare of a kali-peeli cab in Mumbai is Rs 31 for the first 1.5 km, followed by Rs 20.6 per km. In contrast, aggregator fares such as those of Ola and Uber vary depending on factors like car model and ride category. 'The MVAG guidelines expected to be issued in Mumbai will allow a fare cap of only 0.5 to 1.5 per cent over the base fare, inclusive of surge pricing. The protesting drivers want fixed fares, but that may not work in their favour. There is an understanding that the government supports flexible pricing,' said a mobility expert. One reason the government may oppose fixed rates is the concern that drivers would favour only select routes. Industry players say dynamic pricing offers benefits for both drivers and passengers. Emails sent to Ola and Uber remained unanswered at the time of press. Another issue fuelling the unrest is the continued operation of bike taxis, despite a ban by the Maharashtra government. 'While some platforms have stopped offering bike taxi services, others continue through greyballing—using selective routing to avoid detection,' said a source familiar with the matter.
CBC
24 minutes ago
- Business
- CBC
Uber launches new features for seniors, one expert says the problem is not age-related
Ridesharing service Uber has recently launched updates specifically for seniors, but a University of Waterloo (UW) professor believes digital marginalization of this age group is still not being addressed correctly. "Had [seniors] been included from the beginning, and the app had been run in a way that includes everyone, perhaps the update would have been much better from the beginning and it would have served this population [already]," Cosmin Munteanu told CBC News. Munteanu, a professor at the University of Waterloo, is the research chair in technology for healthy aging. His work is also affiliated with the Schlegel-UW Research Institute for Aging (RIA). Munteanu has been working on inclusive technologies and the intersection of technology and aging populations for over two decades. The updates Uber has launched include a "simple mode" with features geared at supporting seniors. The simple mode is a redesigned option prioritizing accessibility of the use with location shortcuts. The creation of "senior accounts" will include larger text, trip updates for live tracking, multiple payment options and more. Other companies like Lyft also have senior-specific options. Munteanu said he appreciates any and all developments improving access for seniors but such programs still come off as an after-thought. Designing technology for seniors is a challenge, he said, adding the problem is at least two pronged: societal and technological. With the new updates, authorized members in the same family account will be able to request assistance from family members. This consists of several new choices such as the ability to use someone else's payment options, live trip updates to others, and family members being able to book rides for the senior account and even contacting the driver if needed. "I'm … concerned with how this may be implemented," Munteanu said. "Why was the previous version not good for seniors," he asked. Munteanu explained that some of the new options being rolled out would be good for everyone. His concern comes from the crafting of the narrative too. "Until now seniors could not use an app and we're suddenly coming up with a great version of the app that's just for seniors," he said. The challenge, he said, is a lot of these apps are not designed to accommodate different ways people use technology. "We immediately reduce seniors to disability," Munteanu said. "A lot of people need accessibility assistance with apps … not necessarily because they age." Keerthana Rang, a spokesperson for Uber, said the company is following demographic trends in Canada. "What we're seeing is that people who are using our app are getting older or ... parents and grandparents see that their kids are using it and [feel] this could really easily be for me too." The simple mode feature can be used by anyone and isn't just for seniors, Rang said. "Uber is moving into what we're calling 'having everyone in the family use [it],'", she said. The senior profile feature follows the launch in recent years of Uber for teens. Rang said the company is following what its ridership is looking for and requesting. Brenda Nowak is a senior who has lived in Waterloo region her entire life. The big technology shift of her youth was the introduction of electric typewriters. The 65-year-old's own relationship to technology is mixed. "[Technology] doesn't come naturally to me, like it does for people that have grown up with [it]," she said. Nowak's experience with ridesharing apps is limited. She's never ordered a car herself but the business which services her car does so, so she's taken an Uber. "They arranged it for me. I just stood outside and waited for the car and got in. But I got the texts … I understand how it works: you get the text that says who's coming and what their name is and what their license plate number and what kind of car … but I've never personally arranged it myself." Nowak says she appreciates the idea of a company taking seniors into consideration, not all of whom are tech savvy and sometimes need extra help. While a lot of younger people, she said, will sign up for things, she's always been a little more hesitant, even anxious especially when she doesn't understand how something works. Nowak said maybe the reluctance to embrace new technologies is more about her personality and less about her age group though. "Some people are just more brave at going ahead and trying something whether they understand it or not." While she uses technology at work which has a dedicated IT department, she has often wished there was a helpline for seniors. "I wish there was something … where you could ask questions or get help or [call and say], 'I don't understand this, can someone explain it to me?'"
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Uber Welcomes New Retailers to its SNAP EBT Program
SAN FRANCISCO, July 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Uber Eats (NYSE:UBER) today announced the arrival of even more grocery and convenience selection for consumers shopping with SNAP benefits across the country. Wegmans, Gopuff and Family Dollar join a growing list of grocery merchants and convenience retailers accepting SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) payment for purchases made on Uber Eats. The increasing selection reinforces Uber Eats' commitment to expand food accessibility and support communities in need. Eligible customers can now use their SNAP EBT benefits to order groceries from participating locations through the Uber Eats app, with payments powered by Forage, the mission-driven payments company. In the months ahead, Uber teams will work to add even more retailers who will accept SNAP EBT payments on Uber Eats orders, including those that are new to Uber Eats. The following U.S. retailers now accept SNAP EBT benefits for Uber Eats orders: 7-ElevenACMEAlbertson'sAndronico'sBalducci'sCardenas MarketsCarrsCub FoodCVSDierbergsDuane ReadeEl RanchoEl SuperFairplay FoodsFamily DollarFiesta MartFood BazaarFood TownFoodMaxxGiant EagleGopuffHarveys SupermarketHy-VeeJewel OscoKing's Food MarketLos Altos Ranch MarketLucky SupermarketsMarket DistrictMeijerMorton WilliamsPavilionsRandall'sSafewaySave A LotSaveMartSedano'sShaw'sShoppers Food WarehouseSmart & FinalSpeedwaySproutsStar MarketStew LeonardsSuper King MarketsSuperlo FoodsTom ThumbTony's Fresh MarketVonsWalgreensWegmansWinn-Dixie "We believe that everyone deserves the convenience of delivery, and with this growing list of merchant partners we can continue to provide access to the fresh food that families and individuals need, especially those without access to reliable transportation for whom food delivery can be a lifeline," said Hashim Amin, Head of Grocery and Retail Delivery at Uber, North America. "This expansion gives SNAP recipients access to tens of thousands of new stores — from national chains to local grocers — all through the Uber Eats app," said Ofek Lavian, co-founder and CEO of Forage. "We're proud to power the technology behind it, helping more families use their benefits with confidence and convenience." As Uber Eats continues to innovate and expand its services, the company remains dedicated to addressing food insecurity and fostering inclusive communities. This payment option is a vital step in achieving that goal, removing barriers and allowing all people and families to make healthy choices. For improved convenience, customers can now browse through a wide range of SNAP-enabled retailers and grocery items within the app via the new SNAP icon. To highlight the growing selection of retailers and offer greater value, EBT cardholders will receive $0 Delivery Fee on their first three SNAP-eligible orders. Additionally, eligible EBT cardholders can currently receive a limited-time free trial of Uber One, which includes a $0 Delivery Fee on all eligible food, groceries, and more + other benefits, when they link their EBT card in the Uber Eats app. As part of our ongoing commitment to affordability and access, Uber Eats is exploring additional ways to support SNAP users through future promotions. For the most up-to-date offers, please check the Uber Eats app. About Uber Uber's mission is to create opportunity through movement. We started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get access to a ride at the touch of a button? More than 61 billion trips later, we're building products to get people closer to where they want to be. By changing how people, food, and things move through cities, Uber is a platform that opens up the world to new possibilities. Uber press contact: press@ About Forage Forage builds payments infrastructure that processes government benefits, starting with enabling merchants to accept SNAP EBT payments. 42 million Americans receive government assistance to afford groceries, and Forage powers payments to serve communities in need. Forage is the only USDA-approved third-party payment processor (TPP) that offers retailers best-in-class software combined with dedicated service, enabling complex government payments online and guiding retailers through USDA authorization. For more information visit Press Contact: pr@ View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Uber
India Today
3 hours ago
- Automotive
- India Today
Model Why? Peeling back the layers of Tesla's Indian debut
After what feels like a century of posturing, petitioning, and pouting at import duties, the electric chariot from the colonies - yes, that Tesla - has finally washed ashore in India. The scene? A rain-sodden slab of glass and concrete in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex, where influencers, entrepreneurs, and assorted tech bros gathered like moths to an LED flame, iPhones aloft, breath they cried, or whatever the 2025 equivalent is on yet, one must ask - with all the solemnity and gravitas of a man who once drove a twin-turbo V8 SUV to the Himalayas - do we really care? Tesla, lest we forget, once thundered onto the world stage in 2008, proclaiming that electric cars needn't be glorified golf carts. Quite right, too. But that was then. Today, the company appears more interested in algorithmic comedy and subterranean tunnels than in engineering excellence. Meanwhile, the global EV landscape has moved on - dramatically, and in many cases, competently. On the global stage, with China's continued stranglehold on rare-earth minerals - not to mention their own domestic brands emerging, clearly capable of undercutting the competition - the advantages of having the scale of a billion-strong domestic market are becoming the question stands like an uncharged supercharger on the outskirts of Mumbai: Do we need Tesla in 2025?To answer this, your faithful motoring correspondent (me) booked a flight to Mumbai - on company rupee, mind you, since Tesla's approach to media relations makes North Korea seem chatty. An early morning flight, a floppy omelette and a minor skirmish with a taxi wallah about surge pricing and cab strikes, and there I was, blinking into the flashbulbs, searching for substance beneath the there it was - standing in a sea of damp influencers and glistening monsoon umbrellas - the Tesla Model Y RWD Long Range, freshly anointed for the Indian market. A vehicle that looks like an inflated Model 3 with delusions of SUV-ness, and now, at long last, yours for the princely sum of Rs 68 lakh, ex-showroom. Yes, rear-wheel drive and long range - a contradiction that makes as much sense as 'dry rain' or 'veg biryani.'Tesla has entered the Indian market, with the Tesla Model Y being the first model from the American automaker to debut here. @dipayandutta brings us more details#ReporterDiary IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) July 15, 2025Still, it was surrounded like a Bollywood A-lister - camera phones pointed, influencers breathless, someone yelling 'Bro, shoot from the side, it looks more muscular.' But beyond the spectacle, one is forced to ask: what, precisely, is Tesla's plan here?advertisementBecause clarity - as ever with Elon Musk's outfit - is as rare as a working AC vent in an Uber Pool. No Gigafactory, no definitive plans for localisation, no real visibility on how one gets this rolling iPad serviced once it's scraped a speed breaker, or has an emotional breakdown during a software update. There are no dealerships - only an experience centre and a website that takes your money faster than a Mumbai valet at a 5-star hotel. The entire experience feels oddly like buying crypto in 2021 - full of hope, thin on gets the distinct impression that transparency was never really part of the business plan - just a heady cocktail of buzzwords, breathless YouTube reviews, and the kind of theatrical rollout that would make even Bollywood blush. Because while Tesla claims to usher in the future, it does so behind a velvet curtain of secrecy, thick enough to muffle common for example, the WLTP-certified range of 622 kilometres - a number flung about with all the confidence of a cricket commentator predicting rain in Chennai. And yet, when one attempts to peel back the layers - to ask the rather innocent question, 'What, pray, is the actual battery capacity?' — you're met with the same silence one finds at a roadside Tesla charger in rural clear answer. No specification sheet. No explanation. Just vague gestures toward 'proprietary architecture' and a deep, cult-like faith that whatever is under the floor must be brilliant, because Elon said so once on that's when the alarm bells start ringing - softly at first, like the chime of an EV reversing, then louder, more insistent. Because it's in these little omissions, these carefully airbrushed gaps in information, where doubt begins to bloom. A specification withheld here, a warranty quietly limited there, a press question dodged with Silicon Valley smarm - they stack up. Not unlike range anxiety itself, you find yourself squinting at the spec sheet (such as it is), wondering whether the emperor is wearing regenerative brakes at not just what they're telling you - it's what they're not. And in a market as discerning (and occasionally unforgiving) as India, that's not futuristic. That's just now, to the big claim: 'Autopilot or full self-drive in Tesla speak.'And when I say 'claim', I mean that it's listed on Tesla's India famed Level 3 ADAS — a suite of driver-assist features that, in America, promise hands-free highway cruising, summoned parking, and the occasional confused swerve into a Taco Bell. But, in India? Entirely outlawed. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has made it abundantly clear that no car drives itself here, mostly because even human beings struggle. Between triple-parked Altos, rogue bovines, and overtakes that redefine geometry, the idea of an autonomous car surviving even a day on Indian roads is pure what does that leave us with? A heavy, expensive, tech-laden crossover with most of its most interesting features neutered by regulation. It's like importing a Katana and being told you can only use it to butter there's the 60 lakh for the base, rear-wheel-drive version of the Model Y. And before one starts shouting 'subsidies' or 'import duties' — yes, we know. But in the same bracket, you could have a locally supported BMW iX1, a Mercedes EQB, Kia's EV6, and even Hyundai's IONIQ 5 with actual customer for that matter, something locally manufactured with an Indian badge and just as much quirk, performance, and practicality - because in India, we like our quirk, but only as long as it's useful. Cars like the twins or Mahindra's born-electric BE range are proving we can do world-class without the mystique. Which brings us to Operation Peacock - Tesla's oddly theatrical code name for its India entry. It sounds patriotic, sure, but in classic Musk fashion, it's less about celebrating the national bird and more about strutting one's stuff in a new market. A little dance, a lot of feathers, and very little substance. Classic Tesla - hiding in plain sight, while peacocking for meanwhile, is hoping its brand mystique will carry the day. The problem is, in 2025, the glow has faded. What was once radical now feels routine. And in India, where EVs need to be practical, rugged, and repairable by someone who doesn't have a Twitter handle, the Model Y feels like it's arrived at a party two hours late, wearing the wrong sleek, yes. It's techy, sure. But is it right for India? That's murky. For now, it seems to be a car for the Bangalore crypto millionaire, the Insta-famous VC bro, or the cousin who insists 'Bro, Tesla is a vibe!'(Dipayan Dutta is Assistant Editor at Auto Today with over 15 years of experience in vehicle testing, rally driving and making objectionably questionable jokes. On the Jury for Indian Car of the Year and Indian Motorcycle of the Year)- Ends(Views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author)Must Watch
South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- Automotive
- South China Morning Post
Flexible ride-hailing rules are needed, Uber tells Hong Kong authorities
Ride-hailing giant Uber has urged the Hong Kong government not to over-regulate industry platforms, saying its own data shows that services and drivers need flexibility, with the city set to legalise such firms next year after operating in a grey area for a decade. US-based Uber, the dominant player in Hong Kong, submitted a document to the legislature on Wednesday to show the importance of ride-sharing as a critical income source for residents, a day after the government revealed a legal framework on regulating the industry. It said that the government should not limit the number of ride-hailing platforms and the number of vehicles. 'Regulatory requirements should prioritise passenger safety and service quality, avoiding overly complex licensing,' it said. 04:41 Where do drivers stand in Hong Kong's Uber vs taxi battle? Where do drivers stand in Hong Kong's Uber vs taxi battle? Uber said more than 110,000 drivers had made a living through ride-sharing since it launched its service in 2014.
