Uber teams up with Maruti to train 30,000 drivers in the next 3 years

Taxi services major Uber has launched a new initiative in partnership with Maruti and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), for creating livelihood opportunities for one million people by 2018. Under UberSHAAN, the company will provide access to skill development and driver training to the unskilled, Uber India President Amit Jain said.

The initiative will also help trained drivers receive commercial licences, vehicle financing and leasing solutions, he added.

With UberSHAAN, our plan is to rapidly scale India’s entrepreneurial base and generate one million livelihood opportunities on the Uber platform by 2018. Our partnership with the National Skill Development Corporation and Maruti Suzuki will be instrumental in realising our goal by 2018, he said.

Uber has about 4 lakh drivers on its platform in India, which is its second largest market in terms of trips taken after the US. R S Kalsi, Executive Director (Marketing and Sales) at Maruti Suzuki, said they expect to train 30,000 drivers under this programme.

Through this partnership, we will be able to promote safe and responsible driving while facilitating meaningful livelihood for youth, he added.

Uber and Maruti will conduct a 4-month pilot in Delhi/NCR, Hyderabad and Chennai and organise driver training and on-boarding programmes, which is required to join the Uber platform. On completion of training and receipt of a commercial licence, Uber will also offer vehicle financing and leasing solutions. Based on learnings from the pilot, the partnership will be expanded to other cities across India, Jain said.

Also read :Uber launches scheme to woo local taxi and auto drivers to join its platform

Uber will also support driver training, delivered through NSDC’s training centres nationwide that promote skill building in the automobile sector. Besides, Uber Partner Support Centres will provide soft skills training to existing and new driver partners in collaboration with NSDC.

Uber's competitor Ola has been empowering its drivers over the years with many initiatives including 'Ola pragati', promoting entrepreneurial behavior, daily repayment car loan schemes and so on. The 'Pink cabs' initiative launched in 2015 was in a bid to promote women drivers. Recently, Ola had also announced a major merger with Mahindra, boosting their individual market presence.