India rides business 'adversely affected' by second Covid-19 wave, says Uber chief

US ride-hailing leader Uber Inc said on Wednesday that its business in India has been adversely affected by the second Covid-19 wave which has triggered renewed lockdown-like restrictions across the country.

Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi said during the San Francisco-based company’s first quarter earnings call that, “extremely elevated case count and renewed lockdowns in India adversely impacted Mobility trends there,” without providing further details.

This is in contrast to what Uber has been seeing in the United States, UK and other markets such as Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and Hong Kong, where it has managed to post strong recovery in bookings in its ride hailing business.


Uber said bookings in the US for April had recovered to 62% compared to April 2019, while in the UK, overall bookings had rebounded to 80%.

It attributed the recovery to strong vaccination rates in these markets.

Chief financial officer Nelson Chai said growth in the United States and other international markets would offset the headwinds being faced in India and Brazil.

“We expect the segment's recovery to continue to be driven by improving vaccination rates in the US and several international markets more than offsetting headwinds in markets like India and Brazil,” Chai said in the earnings call on Wednesday.

Uber reported that overall bookings on its platform grew 24% year-on-year to $19.5 billion in the three months ended March 31, of which its food delivery business drove $12.5 billion in bookings. While its ride hailing bookings declined 38% during the period, bookings from Uber Eats more than doubled.

The company reported revenue of $2.9 billion in the first quarter of 2021, while its net losses dropped to $108 million, from losses of $968 million in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The drop in losses was largely attributed to Uber’s sale of its self-driving unit, which resulted in a $1.6 billion gain in the quarter.

According to market tracker RedSeer Consulting, India’s mobility market - including cabs, auto rickshaws and bike taxis - recovered to around 69% in March - at 79 million rides - compared to January 2020.

Cabs, the largest segment in India’s ride-hailing market, however recovered only by 60% - at 40 million rides - in the same period.

RedSeer added that recovery in the sector was expected to drop to 30-40% with major markets such as Maharashtra, Delhi and Karnataka having gone into lockdowns in April due to the second wave.