US-based cab-hailing major Uber Technologies Inc., on Wednesday, went live with Uber Central, a service that would allow businesses, small and big, to order and pay for multiple cars ferrying their guests and customers.
The announcement was made almost nine months after it had launched the beta version of the service for a pilot run across select locations.
Uber Central is a dashboard built within the existing Uber for Business platform, wherein a single user will be able to book, manage and pay for multiple rides with different pick-up and drop-off locations.
The company said that customers who avail rides using Central will not need a Uber account or the app as the host organisation will be able to handle everything.
“We are always thinking of new approaches to enhance the Uber experience. Our technology makes it possible to create specialised solutions that help our users have access to reliable transportation options at affordable prices. Uber Central is a great example of such innovation. By Using Uber Central, organisations can now provide on-demand rides to anyone from a central dashboard, even if the traveller does not have a smartphone,†said Arjun Nohwar, head Asia-Pacific, Uber for Business.
It said organisations will be able to use the Uber for Business platform to get access to Uber Central’s digital billing, reporting and management tools to run their transport operations.
The company had announced Uber Central in July 2016, and ran a pilot programme in partnership with over 8,000 companies, including 50 from India.
“We are incredibly excited to bring Uber Central, our world-class customer transportation solution to India and are already seeing a lot of interest in it among our existing U4B customers,†Nohwar added.
Uber for Business was launched in India in December 2015 after a three-month pilot. The company claims that 65,000 organisations, globally, including Goldman Sachs, Dell, Wunderman, Bain & Company, Airtel, AT Kearney, Reliance ADA Group and Tata Steel, rely on Uber for Business.
Ola, which had launched an organisational cab service platform, Ola Corporate, soon after the Uber for Business launch in India, may now have to consider a similar offering to take on its rival.
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