Uber and Ola rides are down by as much as a third over the last one week after large companies advised staff to work from home and restrict business travel, driver associations and company insiders told ET.
Metros, which form the bulk of business for these cab-hailing companies, have seen the biggest decrease in business. In Bengaluru, a drivers’ association has also urged the state government to persuade lenders to waive off loan repayments on taxis.
“Business has dried up completely. There has been a 40-50% drop since the last one week as all companies have given their employees permission to work from home,” said Tanveer Pasha, president of OTU Drivers and Owners Association. “We have approached the state (Karnataka) government asking them to get banks to waive off our EMIs for two months at least.”
Office commute forms the biggest business chunk for Uber and Ola, apart from rides to the airport and corporate travel.
As more companies require employees to work from home, restrict travel and have advised them to connect with clients online, the cab-hailing business has taken a hit.
“Office and airport transfer are the most frequent use cases for Ola and Uber. These firms also have a corporate arm which is a significant part of the overall portfolio, especially for Ola,” a person in the know of the development said.
Some of the largest technology companies — including Flipkart, Twitter, Paytm and a bunch of other MNCs that have a few thousand employees — have asked staff to mandatorily work from home. Several others, including Swiggy, Uber, Ola, have given their workers an option to work out of home.
Uber declined to comment, while Ola did not respond to ET’s query seeking comment.
However, Uber’s stock fell more than 12% to $23 on Thursday at the New York Stock Exchange. Last week, the company also warned analysts that “a pandemic or an outbreak of disease or similar public health concern, such as the recent coronavirus outbreak, or fear of such an event” could post a material risk to its business.
There has been a 10% drop in business pan-India, said corporate transport solutions provider MoveInSync, which clocks over 1 lakh cab trips per day.
“The increase in the number of Covid-19 affected patients has definitely caused panic among officegoers,” said Deepesh Agarwal, cofounder and CEO of MoveInSync.
Companies are also discouraging travel, both international as well as domestic, to contain the impact of the pandemic.
Employees are using personal vehicles to commute whenever possible, to restrict contact with potential carriers of the virus, according to the HR head of a large company.
Around 5% of drivers attached to ride-hailing platforms have left Bengaluru for their hometowns fearing they would be infected as the job puts them in close contact with hundreds of people. “The rest of us are on the roads and taking whatever little business we are getting,” Pashu of the OTU association said.
Incidentally, self-drive businesses including Bounce, Vogo and Yulu said their ride numbers remain unaffected.
An advisor to Ola told ET that the company was monitoring the issue and working to ensure the safety of drivers and riders.
Uber, too, has taken measures to safeguard its employees and has sent out an advisory granting them an option to work from home.
“Based on the latest advice of our consulting epidemiologist, employees in India who can work remotely may continue to WFH (work from home) if they choose,” said Andrew Macdonald, senior vice president of rides and platform at Uber.
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