NE BUSINESS BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, JAN 12
Uber on Monday announced a partnership with Shell, one of India’s most diversified global energy companies, to provide exclusive benefits across fuel, lubricants, coolants, car care products, and beverages for Uber drivers at 60 Shell stations across Gujarat.
In continuation of its efforts to support the wellbeing of drivers, those who enroll will get access to a Shell virtual card. Once activated, the first 10,000 drivers in the State can avail of a pre-loaded and one-time amount of Rs 200, which can be used towards making purchases at any of the city-based Shell stations in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Bhuj, Gandhidham, Gandhinagar, Kutch, and ShamlaJi.
This will enable savings of Rs 1,000 to 1,500 per month per driver and will further help drivers to enhance their average monthly net savings by 10%-20%. Apart from Gujarat, the Uber and Shell partnership will also extend similar support to drivers from Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Karnataka.
Speaking about the partnership, Abhilekh Kumar, Head, Business Development, Uber India & South Asia, said, “Drivers drive our business, and supporting them during the pandemic is mission-critical. Because of the impact of Covid-19 on the livelihoods of drivers, we’re sure our partnership with Shell, which provides them several discounted products and services, will provide them further relief. Drivers have always gone the extra mile for us and this partnership acknowledges that they continue to remain at the heart of our business.’’
Speaking about the partnership, Deepti Behl, National Head, Shell Fleet Solutions for India said, “We are delighted to welcome the Drivers on Uber’s platform as new customers of our fleet solutions programme in India. Ride-hailing is an important area of growth for India’s mobility market and COVID-19 has accelerated digitalization and its value amongst our customers. Our partnership with Uber helps their drivers to not only enjoy a range of products and services available at our retail stations but also ease of fuel payment. Shell’s new QR-code based virtual card, developed during the lockdown, caters to the changing customer needs to provide the added benefit of convenience and safety. This partnership will help Uber’s driver-partners realize further efficiencies in their operations”
Over the past few years, Uber has taken multiple initiatives to support drivers, including – a first-of-its-kind comprehensive platform, Uber Care, through which thousands of drivers got easy access to life insurance, free online medical consultations, micro-loan(s), etc. Under Uber Care, micro-loans of INR 500 million have been facilitated to date to driver-partners, and over 120,000 driver-partners have signed up with our partner, DocsApp, for free medical consultations.
More recently, the Uber Care Driver Fund disbursed grants to approximately 100,000 drivers. Uber is also providing financial assistance to those drivers who’ve either been diagnosed with COVID-19 or have been placed in quarantine by health officials.
