Uber is investing Rs 1800 crore on a new tech and support centre in Bengaluru

S Prabhakaran January 31, 2017

Uber Technologies Inc, which is fast expanding in Indian cities, has invested Rs 1,800 cr in Bengaluru to set up a centre, a facility similar to the one it runs in Hyderabad. The new centre, which is likely to be inaugurated next week, will provide both rider and driver support, apart from developing custom solutions for support and safety systems raised by drivers.

Hyderabad’s Uber Center of Excellence, which was set up in February 2016, currently employs around 500 people, mostly customer service executives, assisting drivers and customers across India. However, according to a source, the employees are struggling to manage the number of calls they receive from across the country.

“The team is also finding it tough to communicate with the drivers and customers from different states as they are fluent only in English and Telugu. That’s why we are setting up a centre in Bengaluru, as the city has more linguistic diversity, and we will be able to provide better support,” said a source.

Uber did not provide a response at the time of publishing the story.

Uber had invested $50 million (approximately Rs 330 crores) in the Hyderabad centre. A month later, Uber set up its first engineering centre in Bengaluru, the first in Asia, to address India-specific problems.

The company had pledged $1 billion investment in India last July. During his visit to India in January, the company’s co-founder Travis Kalanick said that the company would double its pledged investment if it sees more than five times return.