Maruti Suzuki to train 30,000 Uber drivers

Maruti Suzuki has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Uber, under which, the automaker will be training 30,000 Uber partner drivers in the next 3 years. This program will initially run as a pilot project in Hyderabad, Chennai, and Delhi-NCR. It will eventually be introduced in other cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, and Pune.

Under the said MoU, Uber will be responsible for providing leads of potential commercial driver-partners to Maruti Suzuki. The carmaker will then train them in safe driving practices. Maruti Suzuki has designed a training module, which includes pre-assessment tests, theoretical training, practical training and post-training assessments. The total duration of this training schedule will be 30 days. Uber will be responsible for the pre-assessment tests, while successive training stages will be undertaken by Maruti. The participating drivers will be given grades at the end of the training schedule.

Uber has set a target of adding 1 million new driver partners on its platform by the end of 2018. The company has also partnered with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) to offer training to its existing driver partners.

This isn't Uber's first partnership with an automaker. The company has already signed an MoU with Tata Motors for vehicle purchasing and financing solutions. Uber's biggest rival in the Indian market - Ola too has gone into a similar sales and finance partnership with the Mahindra Group.