Food-delivery platform UberEATS will be launched in India by the end of 2017: Economic Times
The service will first be launched in either Bengaluru, Chennai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Mumbai or Pune.
Taxi aggregator Uber will launch UberEATS – a food delivery platform – in India by the end of this year, The Economic Times reported on Monday. However, UberEATS will be a completely separate platform from the ride-hailing one and will have fresh management team both at the national and city level, the report said.
Manan Javeri, a former McKinsey executive who joined Uber in 2015, will head the India launch. Javeri will report to Uber’s Asia Pacific chief Allen Penn. “We are currently in the process of setting up a team dedicated to the UberEATS business in India, this includes internal transfers, primarily experts in marketplace management as well as external hires,” Penn told Economic Times.
UberEATS has already started hiring executives for its management team and is also in talks with restaurants that are willing to partner with the platform. “From a hiring perspective, we are looking at bringing some of the best talent in the restaurant industry, including successful entrepreneurs, people with experience in logistics management and various other aspects of the food delivery business,” Penn told the daily.
The service will first be launched in one of the six cities of Bengaluru, Chennai, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune and will be later offered in the five other cities. UberEATS was first launched in Los Angeles as pilot project in 2014. It is currently available across 62 cities across the world. However, Uber may have to introduce a fleet of two-wheelers in India for food delivery purposes. It usually delivers food in the 62 cities on two-wheelers.
UberEats will charge between 25% and 30% commission on each delivery from the on-board restaurants, according to Economic Times. The rate is higher than what its rival, Swiggy, charges. Swiggy levies a 15%-20% commission of the order value on the restaurant while the delivery charges are levied on the customer.