Uber makes Rs 200cr investment in Xchange Leasing

After investing Rs 43 crore in Mumbai-based car leasing service, Xchange Leasing between January and March, Uber has upped its investment in the car leasing company by a whopping Rs 200 crore between June and September, reports Livemint.

The car leasing program offers car drivers to work for Uber, even if they don’t own a vehicle. Drivers have to pay a security deposit of Rs 30,000 – Rs 35,000 to be a part of the program and pay a monthly lease payment. Drivers also have the option to own the vehicle after completing 3 years of work with the company.

As per the documents filed with the Registrar of Companies, Xchange Leasing received Rs 201.71 crore from Uber International Services Holding BV and its subsidiary Mieten BV in two tranches, one in June and another in September.

Interestingly, the cab aggregators investment comes on the sides of it selling its China business to local rival Didi Chuxing, and the increasing competition with Ola in India, which runs its own cab-leasing subsidiary, Ola Fleet Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

End of competition in China means that the capital that would have otherwise been invested in China is now being redirected to India. “We were spending over a billion dollars in China annually. So, that stops. We can see a portion of that being invested (in India) as we continue to grow the business in India. We had several resources that were dedicated to our China business. Like a 150-person product and engineering team that was based in San Francisco and that was completely dedicated to the China business. So, you will see a portion of that being focused now on the India business,” said Uber India head Amit Jain in a recent interview with the publication.

Notably, Uber’s director of financial reporting, Joshua James Waldron, serves on the board of Xchange Leasing India. Besides, Xchange Leasing and Uber India Systems Pvt. Ltd have a common director, Mohammad Akbar Khan.