Has Uber opened Pandora's box by launching carpool in India?

Bengalureans now join commuters in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Austin and Paris who have been using UberPool from late last year, reports Tech in Asia

Uber today announced the launch of its carpooling service, UberPool, in India, starting with Bengaluru. Bengalureans will thus join commuters in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Austin, and Paris who have been using UberPool from late last year. China has a People’s Uber which is ostensibly not for profit – that is, the drivers get paid but Uber doesn’t take a cut. But UberPool will also appear in China soon as “People’s Uber +”.
 

UberPool will match users taking the same route via Uber, and users can then choose the carpool option to share the ride and split the fare rather than having to pay full price. This will also reduce the number of cars on the congested roads of Bengaluru, says Uber. The new service is in beta mode for now.
 

 

Cheaper rides and fewer cars will be welcome in Bengaluru, but we can expect some new areas of conflict and confusion. Riders will have to get used to deviations from the route to accommodate those sharing the car. Waiting time may test their patience too, given some of the hard-to-locate addresses in India and ambivalent attitudes towards punctuality.
 

And what if the sharing party comes with an entourage? UberPool allows two passengers at each pickup location, for a maximum of four riders in a car, besides the driver. But it may take time for people to be educated on these nuances, and we can expect some arguments in the interim.
 

On a more serious note, Uber has been under regulatory scrutiny in India since the alleged rape of a female passenger by an Uber driver in Delhi last year. Ride-sharing with unknown co-passengers may introduce new issues of security.

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This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here.