Uber brings food delivery app UberEATS to India, launches service in Mumbai
Cab-hailing service Uber on Tuesday launched its food delivery app UberEATS in Mumbai.
Cab-hailing service Uber on Tuesday launched its food delivery app UberEATS in Mumbai, marking its entry into the Indian market.
Delivering food to consumers under a different brand name, cab-hailing service Uber on Tuesday launched UberEATS in India, with Mumbai being the first city where the service will go live.
"The introduction of UberEATS in India, with Mumbai as the first city, is a major step in our global expansion and showcases our commitment to the region," said Bhavik Rathod, Head of UberEATS India, in a statement.
"The app brings together the perfect pairing of innovative technology and delivery network with our restaurant partners at the tap of a button," he added.
Uber's online food delivery platform will be released as a separate application, independent from its ride-hailing app. The service will compete with apps such as Zomato, Swiggy and Foodpanda.
UberEATS was started in 2014 as a small delivery pilot in Los Angeles, US, and launched as a separate application in Toronto, Canada, in December 2015.
"As we have expanded UberEATS, we have been building the technology to make food delivery at the push of a button easy wherever you are -- whether it is at home or the park, in Mumbai or San Francisco," said Kartik Murthy, Product Manager, UberEATS.
UberEATS has been launched in Mumbai in partnership with more than 200 restaurant partners and claims an average delivery time of 35 minutes. Actual delivery time may fluctuate depending on the distance, traffic and on how swamped the restaurant is.
"We have worked specifically to turn the challenges in India into opportunities for developing a better product for consumers, restaurants, and delivery partners, " Murthy said.
Users will have to download the app, select the address where they would like their meals delivered and browse local restaurants or search by cuisine type to place their order.
The payment can be made through PayTM. Users can also get updates as their order is prepared and watch in realtime as the meal is delivered to their location.
There is no minimum order size on the app but a delivery fee of Rs 15 will be levied with each purchase.