To answer your first question, yes there is Uber in India. However, even nowadays, it is still not available everywhere and there are a few slight differences you may want to know about. With the help of Jules, our local India expert, we’ll try to help you with these changes as well as give you some tips for using the app!
When Rachel first came to India in 2012, Uber didn’t even exist in India yet! Back then, you got to the airport upon arrival and could either take a government prepaid taxi or arrange with your hotel to pick you up. Both options were, of course, better than trying to fight for a taxi right outside. Even then, she realized those prepaid taxis were rip offs and only used MERU cabs or taxi that used its meter. Then she’d just follow the car with her maps app to make sure the driver wasn’t going in circles.
Of course, nowadays Uber is well and alive in India, so here’s our best advice so you can feel safe while using it!
Want more tips for traveling India? Buy our India Guidebook and even if you ONLY read that, you’ll be 1000% prepared for your trip. It’s 6 years of India travel experience all wrapped up in an organized easy to read manner.
When to Use Uber in India
A Note on the Safety of Uber vs. Other Taxi Options
Honestly, there is no difference between using Uber, a MERU cab, government prepaid taxi, or jumping in a random cab. The background checks are not always done as they should be and although Uber should be more trustworthy, events have proved this false when a woman was raped by her driver in Delhi.
Delhi later banned Uber for not doing thorough checks. (Not that banning is a huge deal, as in India it’s a joke about what the next ban will be: beef, porn, bikinis in Goa, PDA, being gay, mannequins in lingerie, advertising alcohol (brands have some funny ways getting around this), and the movie 50 Shades of Grey to name a few).
Uber says they have made things more secure, so perhaps it would be a safer option, but really it’s just down to chance on these things, isn’t it?
Rachel would use Uber not just because of safety, but because the app was easier than waiting in line at the taxi stand and she’d sometimes forget to have cash.
Why Uber is Still the Better Option
When you choose a journey on Uber the price is set. There is no need to barter or do that thing where you walk away as the price is too high and then go crawling back because you actually need to take the taxi. You are given the final price before you commit to the journey and there is no need for negotiation which saves a lot of stress as you are of course unlikely to know what the price should be in foreign countries.
You will also see the reason why places like Goa protest against having Uber is because the prices given on Uber undercut the extortionate taxi drivers by a long way. Uber gives you what the real price should be and for us travelers, this is a godsend.
Additionally, with the use of the app it is an easy way to keep account of what you are spending on journeys which can be a great help for those budgeting in India and also for those traveling in groups needing to know who spent what.
Tips For Using Uber in India
1. Install Uber before you arrive
When Rachel first downloaded Uber, she did so in the US. When she later deleted and reinstalled the app, she discovered that she had issues logging in and since she had a new SIM number, she couldn’t verify her account. To be on the safe side, just download it at home first.
2. You can pay in cash
One other thing to note is that you can choose to pay with cash. This is easy enough. You just go to your settings and choose cash or card. You can use an international card, no problem. But if you prefer cash it’s an option. When Uber first came to India, it was card-only as it is in most countries. They waited a long time before realizing they were cutting off the majority of their market. India was the first place you could pay cash for an Uber, trialed in Hyderabad in 2015.
3. How to tip with Uber
Technically with Uber, the tip is meant to be included in the price, so if you pay via card, don’t worry about it. If you’re paying in cash, it’s typical not to tip drivers for short distances. However, what you want to do instead is just round up and let them keep the change.
4. Uber pickups may be in a different area
In the USA, you might find that there is an Uber pickup area at airports clearly documented with signs. You can now find these specific areas in certain bigger airports in India such as Mumbai and Delhi.
5. You need a working SIM to use
You NEED to have a working Indian SIM card so that you can talk to the driver and see where to go. It is very likely the Uber driver is going to phone you to confirm the journey before they come to the meeting point. Language barriers do happen. English is widely spoken in India, but some drivers will not speak it. You might have to ask someone to take the phone from you and translate to save time.
6. You can use it to for rickhsaws too
Uber now has UberAUTO which will use rickshaws instead of cars if you want that experience!
7. Make sure to check the license plate
When you get to the car, verify the license plate and ask the driver to show you the trip on his phone. You never know what scams people could pull, so better to just make sure you’ve got the real Uber driver.
With Uber, there should be a photo of the guy and a license plate and car make. While in Bali, Rachel noticed it was always some other guy driving the car and she didn’t mind. In India, however, do not get in the car unless it is the same guy.
Issues you might have with Uber in India
Cancellations
You will get drivers who cancel on you. It sucks and happens here way more than any other country I’ve been. Many drivers also work for OLA (the Indian version of Uber) and they will cancel if something better comes up.
You may not be able to use Google Maps to track
Another issue is that as you get out of cities, Google Maps isn’t as good and you might find that the hotel isn’t even on the map where it’s meant to be. The good news is this would happen with a regular taxi too, lol, so who cares! #ThisIsIndia
Don’t tell anyone you’re using Uber
As we said above, there are places Uber is not active because the local taxi guys will not allow it. But, there are places Uber is active and the local taxi guys are NOT happy about it. Sometimes, there are fights/violence. When you take an Uber, don’t announce it. Don’t tell the hotel it’s Uber or anyone else. They are unmarked cars, so just act like it’s a friend or a driver you have on call.
One place I’ve heard the violence happens more than occasionally is in Trivandrum, although I have not encountered this. Staying quiet will keep you and your Uber driver out of any trouble from disgruntled locals. Again, I have used Uber all over India and never had a single issue, but it does happen.
Where Uber Works in India
Uber has now been introduced into 40 cities in India. I have listed them below so you can see them all clearly.
- Agra
- Ahmedabad
- Ajmer
- Amritsar
- Asansol
- Aurangabad
- Bangalore
- Bareilly
- Bhopal
- Bhubaneswar
- Chandigarh
- Chennai
- Coimbatore
- Dehradun
- Dhanbad
- Durgapur
- Guwahati
- Hubli
- Hyderabad
- Indore
- Jaipur
- Jamshedpur
- Jodhpur
- Kanpur
- Kochi
- Kolkata
- Kollam
- Kottayam
- Lucknow
- Ludhiana
- Mangalore
- Mumbai
- Mysore
- Nagpur
- Nashik
- New Delhi
- Puducherry
- Patna
- Pune
- Raipur
- Rajkot
- Ranchi
- Surat
- Thiruvananthapuram
- Tirupati
- Udaipur
- Vadodara
- Varanasi
- Vijaywada
- Visakhapatnam
Uber in Goa
While Uber exists in Goa, it’s not as active and the chances of it being active are next to none. Similar to Canggu in Bali, taxi drivers would never allow Uber in their towns. There has even been a recent introduction of another app, Goa Miles, but this is not as reliable as you would hope due to the backlash from current taxi drivers.
Rachel wrote more about transportation in Goa in her ebook if you want to know more on what to expect. When she lived in Goa, she drove around in the above beautiful little thing that was once banned itself because of the easy-to-kidnap-people-doors.
So, that is pretty much all there is to know about Uber in India! You can click here to download the free app and choose Andriod or IOS. Enjoy Ubering around India. It definitely makes life easier here!
For More India Travel Planning Guides:
Check out some of these posts to help you continue planning your trip to India:
Trip Planning Tips
- The 30 Best Places to Visit in India
- Travel to India Made Easy With This Step By Step Guide
- 100 India Travel Tips You HAVE To Read
- 10 Tips for First Time Travel to India
Logistics
- How to Get an India Tourist Visa
- Travel Insurance for India
- How to Book a Train in India As Foreigner
- Do You Need a Filtered Water Bottle For India Travel?
- Money in India: How To Get Rupees
Packing Tips
- How to Dress in India: the Ultimate Dos and Don’ts
- 10 Travel Essentials For India
- Men’s India Packing List
- The Only Backpacking Through India Packing List You Need
Itinerary Tips
- One Month Backpacking India | Itinerary, Hostels, Tips
- My Guide: the BEST Itinerary for India
- Kerala Backpacking Tips & 10 Day Kerala Itinerary
- Have The Perfect Rajasthan Trip By Copying This Two-Week Itinerary
- Goa One Week Itinerary for the Beach Lovers and Foodies
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Original: October 2017; Update: May 2020
Oh man, Rachel, you really touched a nerve for me with Uber!
I’ve used Uber in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. With Uber in India, there’s no such thing as tapping the app and having a car show up without at least one phone call. They rely on calling customers to guide them and being a tourist just doesn’t facilitate that level of knowledge about a city. I honestly believe they call because most of the drivers cannot read a map. So I don’t know how to guide them, and they can’t find me on the map. It’s really frustrating.
For example, I will open the app, request a car and then watch on the map as the car doesn’t move. Then, after about 10 minutes, when I realize it’s *not* traffic holding him up, I will call the driver and only then will the driver start driving toward me.
That’s assuming the driver speaks good English, which many do not, and the phone connection is good, which it often is not, and that I’m not standing on a street corner with dozens of honking cars and motorcycle engines, which I often am.
Then, the driver will get closer and call again, asking where I am. I’ve begged passers-by on more than one occasion to talk with a driver on my behalf.
Transport in a big city is such a hassle. I started using Uber as an alternative to taxis because it cuts out a lot of the taxi issues but it’s really not that much better.
Haha yes this is all so true!! I have had some drivers be a little more on it, but this happened to me in Bangalore and I couldn’t get anyone to translate (was on my way to airport) finally gave up and took hotel taxi :/
Airports here do have Uber pick up areas! Not all, but some. Bangalore Airport being one of them
That is an excellent tip Divya, thank you! Was just discussing my boyfriend’s arrival in Bangalore (later this month). Can you tell me a little bit more about where Uber picks up at the Bangalore airport? That would cut out a lot of the issues with getting an Uber (for him).
Good to know! I haven’t been to Bangalore in ages!
Just arrived in Mumbai airport and happy to report that uber and ola both have designated pick up areas. It is in a parking garage, so the drivers are already parked there and waiting.
Hey Lauren, awesome!!! I hadn’t seen these signs, but then that’s probably because I’m always connecting onward to Goa. So, for other people reading this, when you ordered your Uber in Mumbai, the drivers were already there waiting so you didn’t have to wait and call and such? Sounds perfect!
Thanks for this! I am landing on Monday and was going to organise a cab through my hotel but it costs £30! Think I’ll try Uber instead!
One of the biggest issues I faced with Uber in Bangalore was that often the drivers did not know how to use the navigation in their app, which led to a lot of confusion. I also noticed some of my friends would not check the accuracy of their pickup spot before requesting the car, which made things even more confusing.
I also often had drivers arrive in the correct car who were not the drivers shown in the app. What I discovered is that because the cab drivers realized they can make more if they run their cars 24 hours a day, they would ask their brothers and cousins and other relatives to come to Bangalore and help them drive. This meant there were drivers who not only were not the driver listed with Uber but were also unfamiliar with the layout of the city, which roads were one-way, and so forth. I would report them to Uber every time it happened, but it was such a widespread problem that I’m not sure how they dealt with it.
That being said, however, Uber was leagues ahead of Ola when I was living there. The Ola app was so terrible to use, and the drivers – of both cabs and rickshaws alike – were always super rude and would almost always tell me their app wasn’t working and they couldn’t accept my card payment. Uber was the lesser of two evils, and Uber Pool generally worked out pretty well for me.
I agree with Julie’s comment above that it’s difficult to use as a tourist without a good knowledge of the city they are visiting. I had good luck in Bombay and Bangalore because I know the cities well, but it was a little more difficult in Hyderabad because I didn’t know landmarks.
Glad to hear the airports have pickup zones, though! That’s a huge improvement.
Thanks for sharing all your tips. I’ve noticed here and also in Bali what you mentioned about the drivers not being the drivers they are meant to be – that is a problem! I can see why they do it to earn more, and I can’t see how Uber will be able to regulate that.
Bombay Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport has two terminals, T2 (international) and T1 (domestic).
At Terminal 2, select P7 West as your pickup spot.
At T1, meet your driver at the designated pickup point right outside the arrivals hall.
Hi! So I’m in India now and you can actually request Uber Auto (tuktuk) in some cities now! We used it daily in Jodhpur with no problems. It’s so so so much cheaper than being ripped off by the regular auto drivers. We were quoted 400 for a journey that cost 70 through Uber Auto! Just something you can add