[msdivy]

Found this conversation with Uber Black driver on Quora:

Author: So how much money are you making from Uber ?

Driver: I am very content for the services and remuneration, I have made Rs 52000 max per week. As I take my work seriously, I work from morning 5:00AM to 10:00PM night, and the saturdays and sundays are mostly happening ones that covers a week.

Author: Do you make Rs 50000-52000 every week ?

Driver: No that depends, last week, I was out to meet my family in Punjab for 3 days, worked for 4 days, and I made Rs 29000. (He also showed me transaction message of Rs 52000 from his bank, and tax was not deducted at source).

The payment pattern is simple, like you take a ride, and bill generated is Rs 560, he will be credited Rs 200 extra , means he will get Rs 760 in account and rs 200 is bonus and gratuity per ride.( Yes, this is a temporary phenomena as they are boosting business in India.)

Author: So you are earning Rs 180000-200000 per month by this car.

Driver: This is an SUV, and according to traffic in delhi, I spend around Rs 40000-50000 on fuel, and maintenance is about 10000-15000. So i am making Rs 1.2 lakhs nowadays.

Link: What is the average annual salary of an Uber/Meru/Ola cab driver in India?

[Octane_Power]

Originally Posted by msdivy

Found this conversation with Uber Black driver on Quora:

I was just about to post this Quora question. Is this really true? I mean can one really earn 1-1.2 lacs/month just by driving a cab? It seems to be too good to be true. That earning is more than what most engineers earn in our country!

Would like to see what fellow BHP'ians have to say about this.

-Bhargav

[drmohitg]

I have contradicting versions. All the drivers I have interacted, approximately 8 till now including Delhi and Kolkata, have all expressed that they make not more than 20-30k in a month. And drivers in Kolkata were extremely unhappy with Uber and their business model.

[Octane_Power]

Yes, it is impossible. If we consider 1.8 lacs/month with driving 15 hours everyday(which is again highly unlikely) then it comes to 400 INR/hour.

All these figures seem highly unlikely. I wonder what the so said author on Quora was smoking while typing the answer :|

-Bhargav

[shady_lawyer]

I happen to know an ex-services person, who is now an uber partner.

The math as explained to me works as follows. Between the hours of 8 AM-10 AM (used to be 12 PM) earlier and between 5 PM and 10 PM, Uber pays the driver a sum of Rs. 300-350 per completed trip. The caveat being you need to have a certain acceptance rate to qualify for the higher bonus slab. Between 10 AM to 5 PM, the bonus is a flat Rs. 125 subject to the same caveat.

So even if a driver makes 10 trips a day from 5 AM to 11 PM (lets assume 2X8 AM to 10 AM window+ 5X10 AM to 5 PM) and (2X5 PM to 10 PM) =Rs. (300x2)+(125x5)+(300x2)=Rs. 1825.

Uber at present is remitting the entire fare to its partners (however this is to increase market share). Assume the average fare per trip is Rs. 150 (never had a lower fare than this)=Rs. 1500

Thus, the total earning (tax free mind you-No TDS, No Service Tax nothing)=Rs. 3325 per day. You work for 28 days, you are not from the 1L figure you see.

He earns that much. yes! Actually he makes close to 1.25L a month

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

Is this really true? I mean can one really earn 1-1.2 lacs/month just by driving a cab? It seems to be too good to be true. That earning is more than what most engineers earn in our country

Originally Posted by drmohitg

All the drivers I have interacted, approximately 8 till now including Delhi and Kolkata, have all expressed that they make not more than 20-30k in a month.

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

All these figures seem highly unlikely. I wonder what the so said author on Quora was smoking while typing the answer :|

It really can happen - and is happening. I know a few who quit their day jobs (they were driving for an IT firm) and joined the Uber/Ola bangwagon and now happily save between 60-70k a month after deducting all sorts of expenses. It is mainly due to the bonuses that are offered over and above the fares.

But the main point to consider is - will it last forever? It is still a honeymoon period for these cab aggregators. Once we see some consolidation these bonuses will come down, so will the percentage of fare that is transferred to the driver partners. What then?

The drivers I know very well know this fact and are making hay while the sun shines.

Originally Posted by shady_lawyer

I happen to know an ex-services person, who is now an uber partner.
...
He earns that much. yes! Actually he makes close to 1.25L a month

Thanks for sharing!

[GrammarNazi]

I run a garment company & have been facing heavy attrition of young skilled tailoring labour since the last 2 years.

Almost all of them who leave are the ones who somehow managed to gather 2 lakh to buy an Indicab on loan & tied up with Taxi aggregators.

With such branded companies paying them good money & bonuses, these guys have found a way to pay off their cab loans within a year!

Infact, many who left 2 years ago have not only managed to pay back their car loans, but also upgrade to Etios cabs (passing on the Indicab to a sibling in the family).

For sure the aggregators knew about the bonus timing 'loopholes' while devising the payment scheme. Maybe they just chose to let the cabbies find it lucrative to join them, thus attract more cabbies.

IMO By the time the "honeymoon period" ends, a LARGE number of Taxi's would be tied up and then not just would the bonuses stop, but the aggregators would fix a certain heavy margin per kilometer, and without them it'll be a pain to get passengers / reliable taxi's.

These taxi guys understand the rates are going to crash in another year or so, but they couldn't care less since by then they'll have bought 2 (maybe even 3!) cars.

After that they'll spend to learn new skills & take part time job works and also part-time run the Taxi.

IIRC 1 or 2 months ago, Bangalore TV NEWS9 featured a "Techie-turned-Taxi guy" who claimed to have 'sacrificed his job' citing a passion for driving!

Crazy things are happening!

[fine69]

Originally Posted by Octane_Power

I was just about to post this Quora question. Is this really true? I mean can one really earn 1-1.2 lacs/month just by driving a cab? It seems to be too good to be true. That earning is more than what most engineers earn in our country!

Would like to see what fellow BHP'ians have to say about this.

-Bhargav

Its not a matter of whether you can or cannot but are you willing to take up this kind of a job?

This guy does a 5am to 10pm shift (15 hours shift). If he works 6 days a week then where is time for family/kids or himself. I doubt whether he carries homemade food for a 15 hr window (if he does then hats off to his wife ) which means he usually eats outside which isn't a good thing to begin with.

Stress of being on the road all the time. Ergonomically he's anyways screwed because he's in the driving position for 10-12 hrs at minimum.

Then the probability of getting into an accident (thanks to the millions of morons on the road) or road rage. In case there is police involvement, cabbies are treated harshly. If the vehicle gets impounded due to an accident then loss of pay for those many days.

Earning 1.2-1.5 lakhs a month doesn't really look that lucrative to me to be honest.

BTW, I had contemplated starting a cab business myself and my very first post on team-bhp was enquiring about an Indica only. What drew me was the money but when I researched enough and spoke to enough people I realized that the toll on my health & level of stress I'd be dealing with just wasn't worth it all.

[nareshov]

An uber cab driver I spoke to a month ago hails from Kolar district said these things:
- he gets a referral bonus of at least 15k depending on the cab class
- he stays at a friends place on most days in the week and makes most of his money on late weekends and evenings. he then goes home (about 70km from BLR) on Mondays
- he is aware that incentives may drop but he's going to make the most of it while it lasts
- he's happy to not be supervised by bosses all the time

the weekly earnings he mentioned were comparable to what some of the previous posts here say.

[RAC]

Originally Posted by shady_lawyer

I happen to know an ex-services person, who is now an uber partner.

The math as explained to me works as follows. Between the hours of 8 AM-10 AM (used to be 12 PM) earlier and between 5 PM and 10 PM, uber pays the driver a sum of Rs. 300-350 per completed trip. The caveat being you need to have a certain acceptance rate to qualify for the higher bonus slab. Between 10 AM to 5 PM the bonus is a flat Rs. 125 subject to the same caveat.

So even if a driver makes 10 trips a day from 5 AM to 11 PM lets assume (2X8 AM to 10 AM window+(5X10 AM to 5 PM) and (2X5 PM to 10 PM)=Rs. (300x2)+(125x5)+(300x2)=Rs. 1825.

To add and a bit geo specific, I was informed by an Uber driver that they are paid flat rate of about 400 Rs. for an airport trip. A return trip would probably fetch an equal amount. There are additional 'flat rate' bonus if the driver is 'online' for more than 12 hours a day.

[noopster]

I had a nice conversation with a very bright, well-spoken Ola Auto driver in Bangalore and he told he was netting 30-35K after expenses for a 12-hour shift. Was quite confident of nearly doubling that after shifting to Uber or Ola cabs (he was awaiting his commercial taxi driver's license).

Another driver told me that the owner of the Uber he drives in Pune nets about 60K a month, with this guy doing 12 hours shifts. He gets paid a fixed salary, so about 45K net after all expenses, I'd reckon.

Of course the fact is that these startups are burning VC money and can't sustain this pricing and payout behaviour forever. But while they are, make hay!

[faithless_1984]

Interesting thread, a friend of mine recently got into the business although he is still working in a 9-5 job, he bought an Etios on loan and partnered with Uber. I casually asked him how the business is doing and he mentioned that the cab is earning around 60-70k per month till now. But he is not making any profit right now as his EMI is high and he has to pay the drivers salary. I guess its more profitable for people who drive the cab themselves.
As mentioned by others i feel the bubble will burst soon and we`ll see a change in the way these companies function.

[saket77]

What a topic! It is just the time when people start aspiring for becoming an Uber cab driver!

Originally Posted by noopster

Of course the fact is that these startups are burning VC money and can't sustain this pricing and payout behaviour forever. But while they are, make hay!

Actually, I am little concerned about splashing the venture capitalist money by the companies. They sure can generate a lot of sales turnover but no profit. Agreed that they might start profit generation after some time, but will that be enough to wash out the huge losses incurred in past? Who knows when a more competitive business models enters the array? Or probably this is the risk that the VCs are willing to take in order to gain a stupendous profit. It is more like that the online shopping websites who are burning the same VC model so as to gain monopoly over the market; only if they survive long enough and the VCs have more than enough of cash to plonk in the loss making business until they rise. I just hope that these are private investments only so that tax payer's money is not used to bail them out if the situation arises. I frankly do not believe that this business model is sustainable for long. The customer loyalty factor will fade away sooner than they think as the discounts vanish.

Thanks!

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by noopster

Another driver told me that the owner of the Uber he drives in Pune nets about 60K a month, with this guy doing 12 hours shifts. He gets paid a fixed salary, so about 45K net after all expenses, I'd reckon

The thing is, no driver is ready to drive a Uber or Ola on a fixed salary, at least that is the sentiment here in NCR - they all know the pricing and payout model. Most of these drivers are owners themselves or take a % based payout of the earnings.

This model is not for folks who have drivers to drive their cars - most of them are better suited in the company transport kind of setup.

[Rahulkool]

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