Uber expands intercity offering with bus ticketing feature

Uber on Friday expanded its Intercity offerings with its foray into bus ticketing in India under a partnership with Ixigo’s AbhiBus, signalling the ride-hailing giant’s rising interest in partnering with third party infrastructure players.

The new feature, which will available on the Uber app from Friday, will allow users to book intercity bus tickets on the platform. The US-based firm has integrated its platform-level safety features including real-time location sharing, safety helpline, and dedicated trip support.

Uber’s Intercity offerings, which began with cabs, is growing 50% year-on-year and operates across 3000 routes in the country, according to Prabhjeet Singh, President of Uber India and South Asia.

“Our technology is becoming more sophisticated where we can embrace multiple third party ecosystems and create a seamless consumer experience for all practical purposes. The experience is going to touch, feel and look like a Uber experience. At the same time it’s a testament to the quality of technology which is being built outside of Uber platform,” Singh said during a press meet.

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The company did not disclose how it expects to monetise the offering but added that by participating and offering a full spectrum of mobility services on the Uber app, it expects to increase its revenue and the “surface area of margins.”

Singh also hinted that going forward, Uber and AbhiBus will partner to offer other services such as last-mile mobility offerings.

Uber India has in recent months launched a plethora of offerings targeting consumers as competition in the ride-hailing sector tightens. The firm most recently forayed into business-to-business (B2B) logistics offering in partnership with Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

The company has also entered the corporate transport market with operations live in Mumbai, Pune and Chennai. It has also launched other offerings like Uber for Teens and invested in fleet management company Carrum to double its Uber Black fleet size this year.