Autonomous Vehicles, Market Disruption, and Drivers: Uber's Vision for the Future of Indian Mobility I personally believe that autonomous vehicles have to have superhuman levels of safety. It's not good enough for them to be better than humans, says Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO Uber

In India's ride-hailing space, three names dominate conversations: Ola, Uber, and Rapido. While Ola and Uber have long been household names, Rapido, launched in 2015, disrupted the market with its two-wheeler rides and comparatively lower fares.

Today, Ola and Uber together account for around 2–3 million rides daily, but Rapido alone has surged ahead, providing 4.3 million rides per day, outpacing both rivals combined. This rapid growth has not gone unnoticed by Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who admitted that Uber's fiercest competition in India is no longer Ola but Rapido.

"Ola used to be our main competition. And, you know, we were always going head-to-head with Ola in terms of the category position in the marketplace. They were the local competitor. I think we had better global tech, et cetera. But they were always scrappy. I think he got somewhat distracted by other interesting areas for him. So I'd say now the tougher competition in India is Rapido. You know, they're the upstart. They got into two-wheelers and three-wheelers really aggressively. Super simple model… And they have gained a good amount of category position. I think Ola is now kind of a distant third," Khosrowshahi said.

But what Rapido got right?

Rapido's breakthrough lies in its business model, which prioritises drivers' earnings through a subscription-based system. Instead of charging a commission per ride, Rapido allows drivers to pay a flat subscription fee, after which they keep all earnings.

Khosrowshahi explained why this approach helped Rapido scale. "Rapido built a really simple model, which is basically the subscription model. You pay a certain amount, and for the rest of the day you operate on what's essentially a zero commission. And once you pay the subscription, then because Rapido is essentially taking a zero commission, then the driver pay is higher than a player who, like us, is taking a commission on every trip. So I think that was a smart way for them to break into the marketplace. Rapido's not making money, so the real test isn't how fast you can grow if you're spending. It's actually how fast you can grow while you're profitable. But they've been innovative, they've been scrappy, they move fast. They're building their brand in the local market, so we've got a lot of respect for them. And we intend to compete really hard with them."

Despite rising competition, Uber has built a strong presence in India, with more than 1 million drivers now using its platform, making India only the third country, after the US and Brazil, to cross this milestone.

India's importance for Uber cannot be overstated. As Khosrowshahi pointed out, the country is now the third largest in terms of mobility trips globally, making it a critical market for the company's long-term strategy.

The autonomous horizon

But competition today may pale compared to what the sector faces tomorrow. Autonomous vehicles loom as both an opportunity and a disruption. Khosrowshahi stressed the importance of safety standards that exceed human performance.

"I personally believe that autonomous vehicles have to have superhuman levels of safety. It's not good enough for them to be better than humans; they have to be multiple times better than humans. And Waymo has certainly proven that's possible. Why not take that shot?"

He was sceptical of camera-only approaches such as Tesla's, instead advocating for a combination of cameras, radar, and LiDAR, "Solid-state LiDAR now is 400–500 bucks. Why not include LiDAR as well in order to achieve superhuman safety? I personally think that's the right solution."

Still, he acknowledged the road to adoption will be long, particularly in India. "For autonomous vehicles to come into India is going to take a long time in terms of the cost of hardware coming down. Within 10 years, you're going to see a significant number of autonomous vehicles in developed markets. In India, I think it's a good 20 years," he said.

Impact on drivers and work

The inevitable question is what happens to Uber's drivers if or when autonomous vehicles dominate. Khosrowshahi put this in a broader societal frame:

"It's not just drivers, it's then why should humans drive? There are about a million auto-related fatalities in the world, why not save those lives? I think it's inevitable for that to happen."

While he sees the transition as spanning decades, he acknowledged the disruption will be profound, mirroring past shifts in manufacturing and other industries.

"Every time more manufacturing was automated, there was always this drama of, oh my God, what happens to the people? And people figured it out. People usually then go to higher-value types of labor," he shared.