2013
Uber arrives in India
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Uber’s Economic Impact in India
2024
Executive Summary
Uber’s mission is to help people go anywhere, get anything, and earn their way. In this report, Uber commissioned independent consultancy Public First to explore and quantify Uber’s economic and social impact across India. By making urban transportation services more readily available, the company has helped grow the economy, whilst improving opportunities for workers and quality of life for Indian consumers.
Transforming Travel
After more than a decade in India, Uber has a variety of services to fit different transport needs – covering local, intercity, and bus travel. Over the last few years, Uber’s auto and motorbike services have also grown in popularity, helping Indians connect with public transport and navigate through busy streets, while retaining the features they value in Uber’s service.
Uber provides reliable, comfortable, and convenient travel.
84% of Indians say that the Uber app has improved the quality of transportation in India.
If speed is required, many Indians turn to Uber for essential trips.
0
%
of riders say they have used the Uber app to get somewhere in an emergency.
Uber is transforming the auto and bike taxi market.
We estimate that Uber Moto and Uber Auto will support ₹360 billion of economic activity in India in 2024. Over the next five years, the total size of the ride-hailing auto market – and its potential economic impact – could grow by another 50%.
Uber Connect makes it easier to send and receive packages.
0
%
of Uber Connect users said they had used it to send packages to a loved one.
Supporting a Wider Economic Footprint
By accelerating mobility and making it easier to travel, Uber’s platform helps support a wider economic footprint for Indian drivers, local businesses, workers, shops, restaurants, and hotels. Uber helps boost economic demand, increase productivity, and provide new ways to earn a living.
Uber provides earning opportunities for over a million drivers in India.
Uber provides earning opportunities for over a million drivers in India. In total, in 2024, we estimate that driver-partners earn an additional 60% a year in higher income through Uber, relative to their next best alternative type of work.
By increasing mobility, Uber creates a spillover impact on local economies.
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%
of riders said Uber made it easier for them to try new restaurants and bars further away from them.
Uber makes commuting to work quicker and easier.
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m
In total, we estimate that Uber saves workers over 40 million hours a year.
Uber gives tourists more confidence to travel and explore.
63% of riders say they have used the Uber app to travel between cities.
Expanding Opportunity
For many drivers, Uber is their first job in a city – helping them take the next step in their careers. At the same time, the structured platform that the Uber app provides makes it easier for drivers to find new customers, stay insured, and feel safe.
Uber supports upward mobility in India.
0
%
of Uber drivers say that they now have more opportunities available to them.
By providing a structured platform, Uber supports drivers to earn more income in a safer way.
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%
In total, we estimate that using Uber increases drivers’ earnings by around a quarter (24%), compared to providing transportation services without a platform.
Safety
Across both our consumers and drivers, we saw the importance of the safety features Uber provides. This gives women riders, in particular, the confidence to travel further on their own and seek work. Also, in the coming years, electric vehicles are set to grow on Uber’s platform, helping reduce vehicular air pollution.
Uber helps people feel safe when travelling.
84% of female riders told us they thought taking an Uber was the safest way for them to travel home.
Uber has introduced a range of additional safety features to its services.
In our polling, we found widespread awareness of features such as “Share My Ride” or the emergency assistance button among both riders and drivers, and a belief that they were helping make each ride safer.
Uber provides greener travel options.
In June 2023, Uber launched Uber Green in India as part of Uber’s wider ambition to go carbon neutral by 2040. 68% of Uber riders say they would be more likely to request an Uber ride if they knew they would be riding in an electric vehicle.
Timeline
2014
The first tech centre in Asia opened in Hyderabad
2015
Cash payments launched
2016
Uber Moto arrives in India
2018
Uber Auto launched
2019
Uber Intercity launched
2021
Uber expands to 100+ Indian cities
2022
Launch of advance travel booking with Reserve
2023
Uber Green arrives in India
2024
Driver count in India passes one million
Transforming Travel
Uber provides reliable, comfortable and convenient travel
By combining the power of smartphone technology with a taxi service, Uber has helped transform the urban mobility market: adding new rider choice and competition, connecting riders with drivers, facilitating electronic payments, as well as adding new safety and tracking features. According to our consumer survey, 84% of Indians say that the Uber app has improved the quality of transportation in India.
In our polling, Uber riders told us the most important reasons they chose to use the service were their confidence in its safety, comfort, reliability, time savings, and convenience. In total, in 2024, we estimate that Uber is creating the equivalent of ₹7 trillion in additional consumer welfare for Indian residents.
By raising the level of service, Uber also helps raise the quality of the market as a whole – both for ride-hailing services and traditional taxis or autos.
What are the most important reasons why you normally use the Uber app?
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If speed is required, many Indians turn to Uber for essential trips
The speed and reliability of Uber services compared to other forms of transport make it a particularly attractive travel option for last-minute or emergency trips:
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%
of riders say they had used the Uber app to get somewhere in an emergency.
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%
of riders say they had used the Uber app to travel to or from a doctor or hospital.
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%
of riders say they had used the Uber app to get to an airport.
How has Uber helped you?
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Uber is transforming the auto and bike taxi market
Given the congestion in many Indian cities, a 4-wheeler car is often not the fastest way to reach a destination. Alongside enabling regular car and long-distance transportation services by connecting riders with drivers, Uber also offers in India dedicated two-wheeler (Uber Moto) and three-wheeler options (Uber Auto).
In our polling, we saw how these options were appreciated by many riders when they needed to cover short distances or cut through traffic.
The convenience of these services, with the safety features and upfront pricing of the Uber app, encourages many people to try them who would not have done so in the past. Over two-thirds (68%) of riders who have used Uber Moto had never previously paid to get a lift on a motorcycle.
In the last few years, Uber Moto and Uber Auto have both grown substantially as part of Uber’s overall offering and are now powering significant spillover economic impact on their own. Our modelling suggests that they are likely to grow substantially in the next few years:
- We estimate that Uber Moto and Uber Auto will support ₹360 billion of economic activity in India in 2024.
- Over the next five years, the total size of the ride-hailing auto market could grow by a further 50%.
Uber Connect makes it easier to send and receive packages
Uber Connect – which enables users to request a driver to transport a package to someone at a designated location – launched in India in October 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The service helped friends and families stay connected while following social distancing regulations.
Now available in cities across India, the service retains its popularity, continuing to offer Indians a quick and easy way of exchanging items – whether gifts, clothes, books, or business documents – with family, friends and colleagues. The service features similar options to a regular Uber ride, including the ability to monitor the driver’s progress in real-time and a ‘share my trip’ feature that allows the recipient to track the delivery.
In our consumer polling, we found that those who had tried Uber Connect used the service for a variety of reasons, demonstrating the service’s value in helping Indians keep in touch with each other, as well as for more sensitive work-related purposes:
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%
of Uber Connect users said they had used it to send packages to a loved one.
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%
of Uber Connect users said they had used it to send a package to someone unwell or sick.
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%
of Uber Connect users said they had used it to send documents or other work-related items.
Deep Dive:
Bengaluru
Fast and comfortable ride-share options make congestion more manageable in Bengaluru
Economic Footprint Supported by Uber: ₹81 billion
Consumer Surplus: ₹800 billion
In 2022, Bengaluru was ranked the second most congested city in the world. In 2023, it took the average commuter 28 minutes to travel just 10km to work, and the additional time lost to traffic compared to free-flowing conditions in the city was 63%.1
By providing a secure and private travel alternative to personal cars, Uber is helping consumers to navigate Bengaluru quickly and with ease despite the traffic. Services like Moto and Auto, ideal for shorter distances, also offer riders better last-mile connections, encouraging more people to take public transport.
For those people in a hurry, Uber features like dynamic pricing help ensure that limited supply is allocated to those who need it most. 75% of riders in Bengaluru told us that they were willing to pay more for shortened pick-up times.
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%
of riders in Bengaluru consider time saved as an important reason they use Uber.
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%
of riders in Bengaluru say that Uber has helped improve how quickly you can travel around.
Supporting a Wider Economic Footprint
Uber provides earning opportunities for over a million drivers in India
In 2023, Uber passed an important milestone in India, with over 1 million drivers using the platform. It is only the third country to hit this threshold, after the US and Brazil.
Uber is playing an important role in helping to increase earnings for this cohort of drivers:
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%
of drivers told us that if Uber did not exist, they would earn less with the next best alternative.
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%
of drivers told us that their earnings through the Uber app had helped them feel more financially secure.
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%
of drivers told us that they would have struggled to find work if it was not for Uber.
Uber provides earning opportunities for over a million drivers in India. In total, in 2024, we estimate that driver-partners earn an additional 60% a year in higher income through Uber, relative to their next best alternative type of work.
By increasing mobility, Uber creates a spillover impact on local economies
Beyond increasing the earnings of drivers, the costs drivers pay to support and maintain their vehicles help to raise the revenues of many other Indian businesses. For example, in 2023, we estimate that Indian drivers paid over ₹17 billion to local businesses in order to maintain their cars, supporting 75,000 jobs for mechanics.
By making it easier for consumers to get about, Uber encourages people to visit more local shops, restaurants, and bars:
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%
of riders agree that the Uber app makes it easier to visit small or independent shops.
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%
of riders agree that Uber makes it easier for them to try new restaurants and bars further away from them.
Uber makes commuting to work quicker and easier
Uber is often an important option for work trips too, where reliability, time saved, and comfort can matter.
By saving workers’ time on work-related trips, Uber is helping to raise their productivity. In total, we estimate that Uber saves workers over 40 million hours a year.
Whether it’s a longer trip in an air-conditioned car that allows Indians to work while travelling, or a short Moto or Auto ride from home to the nearest public transport hub, Uber facilitates essential trips in multiple different ways:
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%
of riders use the platform to commute at least multiple times per month.
0
%
of riders agree the Uber app has made it easier to continue to work while in transit.
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Uber gives tourists more confidence to travel and explore
Following a quick post-pandemic recovery, the travel and tourism sector now represents almost 5% of India’s GDP. Domestic expenditure on tourism alone is set to reach $194 billion in 2024.2
By providing direct, reliable connections between airports, railway stations, hotels, and cultural landmarks, alleviating the hassle of understanding complex public transport networks or haggling over a fare, Uber is seen as the best option for many domestic tourists.
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%
of riders have used the Uber app to get to a railway station.
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%
of riders have used the Uber app while on holiday.
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%
of riders have used the Uber app to travel between cities.
In particular, being able to book a ride and pay through the app allows riders from different backgrounds to travel with ease. 75% of riders agree that Uber has helped them travel despite regional or national language barriers.
Uber Intercity Round Trip
In December 2023, Uber India launched a new feature for the intercity service called “Round Trips”. Passengers can now book a return on intercity trips with Uber while retaining the same car and driver. The service is available across India and can be used for up to 5 days at a time.
The service is an easy way for passengers to connect with drivers for single or multi-day return trips on very short notice, with the guarantee of an easy return journey. In turn, the feature helps to organise and reduce the hassle of outstation taxi travel, and incorporates the ease and safety of ride-sharing into intercity travel. The feature also expands drivers’ earning potential and their ability to plan their schedules.
Expanding Opportunity
Uber supports upward mobility in India
For many drivers, Uber provides an important opportunity to build their careers. 71% of drivers we spoke to in our survey said that Uber is the first app they have earned income through, and expressed real pride in the work they did.
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%
of drivers say that they take pride in driving for Uber.
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%
of drivers say that they now have more opportunities available to them.
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%
of drivers say that driving using the Uber app is more stable than other types of gig or informal work.
Uber has been particularly powerful for adults that have moved to a larger city for the first time to find work. In the survey, we saw that these drivers recognised the opportunities Uber was making available to them:
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%
of these drivers said that Uber had given them their first formal footing working in a big city.
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%
of these drivers said that they earn more by providing their services on the Uber app than they would have where they grew up.
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%
of these drivers said that Uber had given them more opportunities than they would have had where they grew up.
Overall, Uber drivers in India value the flexibility that the Uber platform gives them. 70% of Uber drivers say that flexibility provided by app-based work makes it easier to balance family and work responsibilities.
By providing a structured platform, Uber helps drivers find earning opportunities in a safer way
As part of our driver survey, we asked those who had previously worked outside a platform about how they found the change. Two-thirds (66%) of these drivers preferred driving using the Uber app compared to when they were driving without a platform, and just 14% who disagreed.
When we asked them why they preferred it, the two most important benefits they pointed to were increased safety and the ease of earning.
By making it easier to find new customers, the Uber app can make it easier for drivers to make more money. In total, we estimate that using a platform like Uber increases drivers’ earnings by around a quarter (24%).
Safety
Uber helps people to feel safe when travelling
Women in particular highlight the additional feeling of safety that comes from using Uber, whether for solo travelling or going out at night. An overwhelming 95% of female riders told us that this is an important factor for why they use the app – as well as the most important of any reason.
of female riders say that taking an Uber is often the safest way to travel home.
of female riders say that if ride-sharing services like Uber didn’t exist they would find it difficult to find a safe way to get home at night.
of female riders say that having options like the Uber app makes them more confident to stay out late.
In our polling, both female and male riders were significantly more likely to say they felt safe travelling in a ride-share service like Uber than in a taxi or on public transport.
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Uber has introduced a range of additional safety features on its app
As a platform, Uber offers features to help keep everyone safe:
GPS Tracking
Each Uber ride is tracked live on maps, allowing passengers to follow the travel route in real-time and notice any oddities.
Share my Ride
This feature allows users to share their trip details, including their route, with friends and/or family members.
2-way ratings
Drivers and riders rate each other on the app following the ride, incentivising appropriate behaviour on the part of both.
Emergency Assistance Button
First rolled out in 2015, the feature connects riders and drivers to contact the local police authority while remaining inside the app, and automatically alerts regional support teams.
Ridecheck
This feature recognises when a trip takes an unexpected turn or abruptly stops before the rider reaches their intended destination.
PIN Verification
An added safety feature to make sure passengers are getting into the right vehicle.
Driver Background Checks
Introduced in 2015, Uber runs formal background checks, verification of character by the local police, and checks to detect fraud in driving and vehicle permits for every new driver.
Audio Recording
This feature allows drivers and riders to record the audio of the trip within the Uber app and the file is saved in an encrypted format that cannot be accessed by either party.
In our polling, we found widespread awareness of these features among both riders and drivers, and a belief that they were helping make each ride safer.
Uber provides greener travel options
Indian cities are unfortunately some of the most polluted anywhere in the world, with over 2 million deaths attributed to air pollution.3 While the problem is large enough that no one company can solve it on its own, mobility services like Uber can help by providing greener options and making it easier for more people to travel without their cars.
In June 2023, Uber launched Uber Green in India which is part of Uber’s wider ambition to go carbon neutral by 2040. With Uber Green available in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, and Kolkata, passengers can now request an electric vehicle for their ride.
In our polling, many riders wanted a green option available:
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%
of riders say that they would be more likely to request an Uber ride if they knew they would be riding in an electric vehicle.
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%
of riders say that they would choose an EV option even if it was more expensive.
Offering a greener alternative, Uber Green has a direct impact on pollution in Indian cities and helps to raise awareness of the importance of green travel. But its wider impacts, for example on India’s green startup ecosystem, are also important. To provide the electric fleet, Uber is partnering with various OEMs and local EV startups, such as Tata Motors and Zypp Electric.4
Rider emission savings
In 2024, Uber unveiled a new feature called Emission Savings, allowing riders to monitor their contributions towards reducing carbon emissions every time they use Uber Green. The initiative aims to promote green travel and encourage riders to consider more sustainable options.
Currently, there are three components to this feature. Users can see the estimated CO2 saved to view the total emissions saved by opting for Uber Green, a graphical representation to demonstrate the significance of the savings, as well as the average CO2 emissions avoided when choosing Uber Green over a regular Uber trip over the same distance.5
Deep Dive:
Delhi
Uber helps to reduce pollution in Delhi
Economic Footprint Supported by Uber: ₹136 billion
Consumer Surplus: ₹1.3 trillion
In 2023, Delhi was ranked the worst regional capital in the world when it comes to air pollution.7
Uber has played an increasing role in attempts to combat this problem in the city. In 2019 the platform launched the #LeaveYourCarBehind campaign that encourages citizens to further help improve Delhi’s air quality and leave their car behind instead of the one-person-per-car routine.8
Uber’s bus service ‘Uber Shuttle’ is also now available in Delhi, helping to ease traffic congestion and reduce the carbon footprint of the city’s commuters.9 The introduction of more electric vehicles as part of the fleet, including two-wheeler vehicles, and the launch of Uber Green as a dedicated service for EVs, are examples of further progress in the city.
Delhi’s citizens are responding to these initiatives positively. Our polling demonstrates a clear appetite for greener travel, with its benefits for the environment and health of the citizens:
0
%
of riders in Delhi say that they would be more likely to request an Uber ride if they knew they would be riding in an electric vehicle.
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%
of riders in Delhi say that they would choose an EV option even if it was more expensive.
Methodolgy
About Public First:
Public First is an independent consultancy that works to help companies and organisations develop new policy proposals, better understand public opinion, and model their economic and social impact. Public First is a member of the Market Research Society.
About this report:
In this report, Uber commissioned Public First to better understand and quantify the impact they were having for riders and eaters, drivers and delivery partners, merchants, and communities in Kenya. All values are given in KSh.
We used a mixture of methods to explore Uber’s impact:
- Public First ran an in-depth nationally-representative online consumer poll of 1,132 adults in Kenya to explore their travel and food ordering habits.
- Public First ran an in-depth online poll of 1,014 drivers and delivery partners in Kenya to explore their experiences and attitudes.
- Public First then created new quantitative models of the economic impact, time saved, consumer surplus and driver value created by the Uber app.
Opinion Surveys
Polling for this report took place between May and June 2024. It included a nationally representative poll of 1,137 Indian consumers (“2024 Public First Consumer Survey”) and a poll of 1,167 Uber drivers (“2024 Public First Driver Survey”). In India, the surveys were available in either English or Hindi.
Economic impact
Our total economic impact is calculated as the sum of:
- The earnings of drivers using the Uber App.
- The indirect and induced supply chain impact of driver spending to buy, run, and maintain their vehicles.
- The induced impact of spending by drivers through their earnings from Uber’s platform.
- The additional spending by Uber riders in local businesses, driven by the increased ease of transport.
- The value of the time saved using Uber.
Uber provided data on driver vehicle types, as well as data on how often different vehicle models were used in trips. We used this data to allocate trips that took place on Uber Auto, allowing us to identify separately the estimate for the economic impact it created.
This measure is a gross estimate, looking at the total amount of economic activity supported by Uber in India. It does not attempt to measure what would happen in a hypothetical scenario where Uber no longer exists. Our modelling does not include the impact of Uber’s direct investment or employment footprint as a company or any spillover effect this has on the wider tech ecosystem.
Impact of Driver Spending On Vehicles
To estimate average spending by drivers on vehicles, we drew on two main sources:
- The Public First 2024 Drivers Survey of 1,167 Uber drivers, asked them in detail their average spending on different categories, including purchase, insurance, cleaning, and maintenance.
- Uber provided us with data on the most common vehicle types, which covered over half of all trips in India on the Uber App in 2023. This allowed us to estimate the average purchase price, fuel efficiency insurance and maintenance cost of vehicles using 3rd party sources.
In order to work out the wider supply chain impact of this spending, we multiplied these amounts by Type 1 and Type 2 multipliers, derived from an input-output table.
Impact of Additional Spending on Local Businesses
To estimate this, we added up:
- Additional spending from domestic riders. To estimate this, we drew on the Public First 2024 Uber Driver Survey, where we asked them how often they used Uber for different purposes, and how likely they would have been in each case to make the trip if Uber didn’t exist. The overall number of trips was calibrated with data provided by Uber on the total number of trips in India in 2023, uprated to 2024 using 3rd party estimates of market size. We then combined these with estimates on average spend for different types of activity, and an economic multiplier to take account of wider spillover activity.
- Additional spending from international visitors. We drew on the estimates of Kim et al (2021) on the relative impact of Uber on average tourist spending, combining this with UN data on overall international tourist spending within India.
Value of Time Saved
In the 2024 Public First Consumer Survey, we asked riders for the duration of their most recent trip with Uber, and how long the next best alternative would have taken. We combined this with existing Public First data on the average time saved using the Uber app, and calibrated against Uber’s internal data regarding the average duration of trips in India.
We then multiplied the average time savings with Uber’s internal data on the total number of annual trips. This allowed us to estimate total time saved per year. Finally, we then calculated the monetary value of this using average hourly salary based on reported incomes from the same survey.
Increase in Driver Earnings
Uber provided Public First with data on total gross driver earnings in India. We used data from 2023 and applied growth factors calculated using 3rd party estimates of market size to estimate driver earnings for 2024. In order to calculate additionality, we combined this estimate with data from the 2024 Public First Drivers Survey in which we asked drivers to estimate how much more they earned on average through the Uber platform than they would have done so through their next best alternative.
Consumer Surplus
The consumer surplus of a product or service is a measure of the increase in consumer welfare it creates. It represents the monetary value of a product or service, beyond and above the amount that has been paid for it.
Following the methodology of Brynjolfsson, Collis and Eggers (2019), we asked riders in the 2024 Public First Consumer Survey a single discrete binary choice question in the form to allow us to estimate the consumer surplus of Uber in India:
“Now imagine you had to choose between the following options. Would you prefer to keep access to [Uber for ride-share] or go without access to [Uber for ride-share] for one month and get paid ₹X?”
The price offered was randomised between ₹1.25, ₹2.50, ₹5, ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹200, and ₹500.
We then computed both a linear regression of the results of this poll to derive a demand curve and the average consumer surplus per user, before multiplying by the overall number of Uber users in India.