Uber ends talks to onboard BluSmart’s cabs: Report

EV ride hailing startup BluSmart’s woes shows no sign of ending, after a Mint report said that Uber has reportedly taken off the plan to absorb Gensol Engineering-owned electric cars onto its platform.

The deal, which would see the US-based company absorb 5,000 EVs, ran into roadblocks over high valuation and regulatory concerns, the report said.

Uber was expected to play a huge role in BluSmart’s plan to revive operations, in a deal under which BluSmart would act as a fleet partner to its rival.

According to the report, Uber withdrew interest after the price being asked for the vehicles was not matching its valuation. Depreciation amongst EVs tend to be on the higher end—a fact that was not being considered by BluSmart that has been operating since 2019.

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The report also said that Uber was advised to not take any risks amidst Gensol having taken a loan of Rs 663 crore from Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency to acquire the cars. PFC in April filed a complaint with the Delhi police over alleged filing of falsified documents by Gensol.

This is the second deal facilitated to take over BluSmart’s cabs that has fallen through, after Chennai-based Refex Group walked away from a deal to takeover 2,997 cars from Gensol.

BluSmart had initially planned to deploy around 300 EVs on Uber’s platform as part of an experiment under which Uber would charge a commission on each ride. In April, BluSmart ceased operations in cities like Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR as it had begun transitioning thousands of its vehicles onto Uber’s platform.

Meanwhile, according to multiple reports, BluSmart’s driver-partners staged protests across Delhi-NCR on Sunday, demanding pending compensation and alternative employment oppurtunities. The firm reportedly had around 10,000 driver-partners working with the platform.