SabRentKaro if you are an Uber driver

HYDERABAD: Uber Technologies has partnered with Hyderabad-based online renting marketplace SabRentKaro to provide its driver partners with smartphones on rent or a rent2own (R2O) basis, as part of the cab-hailing platform's bring your own device (BYOD) scheme.

This partnership has allowed almost 2,000 Uber drivers in the past three months to avail of the phone rental service in cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Visakhapatnam, with plans to soon expand it to other places.

"We reached out to Uber when they were moving away from buying devices to rent to their drivers and encouraging the BYOD scheme," said Mithun Pentuker, cofounder at SabRentKaro. "Our concept of rent2own fits in perfectly with their scheme."

Under this partnership, Uber drivers can rent a smartphone through SabRentKaro for Rs 300-500 a week for six months, at the end of which they get to keep the phone.

"Our working with SabRentKaro is an effort to empower our driver partners for an end-to-end solution for a faster, up-to-date mobile device and one of their choice," Christian Freese, general manager-Bengaluru, Uber India, told ET. Subba Rao from Hyderabad, who has been driving for the cab-hailing service for almost two years, used to pay Rs 350 a week to Uber to rent a smartphone.

However, two months ago, he shifted to renting the phone on R2O basis from SabRentKaro through this partnership.

"I now pay Rs 450 weekly, which is a little higher than what I paid earlier," said Rao. "But, four months more and I will own the phone, which is a much better option for me."