Uber, the world's leading ride-sharing platform, has launched its service in the Nepali market. Uber has launched its service within the Kathmandu Valley from Wednesday. Uber's bike and car facilities can be selected in the app.

‘We have unofficially launched the service from today, and the official launch is on June 1,’ said Ashok Dhamla of Book Cab Now, Uber’s third-party vendor in Nepal. ‘Uber now has 1,000 drivers in Nepal.’

Uber had started informing about its service expansion a few days ago via email with the message ‘Hello Nepal, your Uber has arrived!’. The company is sending an official email to those who download the Uber app from Nepal and open an account informing them of the launch of the service in Kathmandu.

The email received by Kantipur from Uber’s official domain name includes a photo of a car driving in the background of Kathmandu’s historic Buddhist stupa. The email says, ‘Now travel has become easier. Whether you are going to work, meeting friends or going out somewhere, a ride will be available to you within minutes.’ The address mentions the company’s international headquarters in the Netherlands.

Amid the buzz about Uber coming to Nepal, after news was previously published in E-Kantipur about advertisements in the name of Uber on social media and the driver registration process, Uber's third-party vendor (partner) in Nepal, 'Book Cab Now', has claimed that the advertisements are official. Ashok Dhamala of 'Eco Incorporation Group', which operates Book Cab, said that they have been in touch with Uber for four years.

He mentioned that Uber's 'technology testing' is currently underway in Nepal. 'We have currently integrated around 1000 drivers into Uber's system,' he said, 'Early onboarding is being done to check Uber's technology compatibility in the Nepali market.' He said that drivers are registered through Uber's official driver app.

‘The interested driver must first download Uber’s official driver app and register himself on it,’ he said, ‘After registering on the app, the mobile number used in it must be provided to our team. After receiving the number, our team verifies that the concerned driver is a Nepali. After we enter the details from here, the drivers will be sent an official link directly from Uber and they will be connected to the system.’

Dhamala also mentioned that Sambit Panigrahi is Uber’s representative in Nepal from India. Kantipur sent emails to Panigrahi and Uber’s media unit to find out the truth about this, but no response was received. On social media, several pages claiming to be official are posting sponsored advertisements asking people to register driving licenses and vehicle number plates. Some have even created websites to intensify such propaganda. A website called ‘UberNepal.co’ is collecting personal details in a big way. Dhamala said that pages like ‘Uber Nepal-Book Cab’ and ‘Uber UnRider’ are official and that they have even signed an agreement. After the news in Kantipur, the Facebook page called ‘Uber Nepal’ was deactivated for some time but has now been reactivated under the name ‘Nepal Uber Onboarding Hub’. ‘There are many vendors of Uber in Nepal, we are not aware of who has signed an agreement with whom,’ Dhamala said, ‘We have made a non-disclosure agreement with Uber in April.’ Dhamala said that although his advertisements on social media are official, the silence of government agencies and the main company has raised questions. The Department of Industries has informed that no formal foreign investment or registration application has been received in the name of Uber so far. This has raised doubts about the transparency of advertisements and data security.

The pages and portals inviting registration have requested the driver's name, phone number, vehicle number plate, and number. After Kantipur inquired about the driver registration advertisement being made on social media, the operator of the 'Uber Nepal' page deactivated the page. According to Dhamala, the phone number they used for driver registration on Facebook and the related procedures were approved by the Uber team. 'The numbers used for onboarding and the designs seen on Facebook were approved by them (Uber's international team),' he said.

Dhamala also said that considering the problems faced by other ride-hailing companies in Nepal, he had advised Uber to proceed only after completing the necessary legal documents and registration process. He said that his company 'Eco Incorporation Group' is mainly involved in the tourism sector and that it handles 'ground handling' for international companies like Booking.com in Nepal.