Uber Teams Up with AbhiBus for Intercity Bus Ticket Booking Service

Intercity bus ticketing services in India have been launched by ride-hailing firm Uber in partnership with ixigo's bus business AbhiBus. This marks the first international market for intercity travel provided by Uber. Users of Uber will be able to find and compare bus choices with AbhiBus' end-to-end booking system and deep operator integrations, according to ixigo's announcement. Furthermore, the app will allow users to view the current availability of tickets and choose their preferred seats without leaving the app.

What Uber-AbhiBus’ Partnership Offers to Users?

Moreover, users may examine 360-degree photographs of buses along certain routes; monitor the current condition of buses in real time; and filter results by bus type (AC, sleeper, seater, Volvo, Scania, etc.). Besides that, consumers have the option to choose Abhi Assured, which provides defined compensation benefits in the event of service outages, and they can also get customer care at any time of day or night.

According to Rohit Sharma, COO of AbhiBus, this collaboration with Uber marks a watershed moment for intercity transport in India. By combining Uber with AbhiBus's extensive operator network and booking technology, the two companies are connecting millions of riders with more than 6 lakh routes, streamlining the process of finding bus routes to the same degree as reserving a taxi.

Uber Changing its Business Strategy in India

This changes Uber's business model from its usual approach, where it controls the supply of its services like ride-hailing. Uber has taken a partnership-led strategy rather than an asset-light one, integrating AbhiBus to get access to bus routes and operator networks across the country. This is Uber's first foray into the international intercity bus market. The business expects the mobility market in India to be worth $13 billion by 2030.

Hence, Uber is planning to take advantage of this opportunity with this launch. About $6–$8 billion of the mobility market is accounted for by bus travel alone, with the rest coming from cab services, which include both intra-city and interstate journeys. Note that this comes at a time when Uber is trying to fortify its position in India's ride-hailing market in the face of fierce competition. As of late, it bolstered its financial reserves by injecting approximately INR 3,000 Cr into Uber India Systems, its Indian subsidiary.

Uber India’s Recent Financial Performance

The injection of funds comes as Uber India is experiencing financial performance pressure. Compared to the previous fiscal year's loss of INR 89 cr, the company's net loss in FY25 increased by approximately 15 times to INR 1,511 cr. Revenue from rides and other sources was relatively unchanged at INR 2,604 Cr throughout the year.

In contrast, AbhiBus is an online bus-ticketing platform that offers services on over 6.5 lakh routes in India and consolidates ticket inventory from over 6,200 bus operators. A combination of cash and equity was used to acquire AbhiBus by ixigo in 2021. Cofounder and CEO Aloke Bajpai stated during ixigo's third-quarter earnings call that the acquisition of AbhiBus was critical to bolstering the growth of ixigo's bus division.