How do I start a cab business with Uber or Ola in India?
You can drive your own car on Uber, Ola or Rapido, or own cars and hire drivers as a fleet partner; either way each car must be commercially registered with a permit, commercial insurance, fitness and PUC, and each driver needs a licence with a public service vehicle badge and police verification. Uber's India requirements for a driver-owner are a driving licence, vehicle registration, insurance and permit, and a fleet partner needs the same papers for every vehicle plus at least one driver. Under the Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines 2025, issued on 1 July 2025 for states to adopt, a driver who brings their own vehicle must receive at least 80% of the fare, and surge pricing is capped at twice the base fare. Before you buy a car, set the EMI, fuel, insurance and maintenance against the fares you can realistically earn in a day in your city. What kills most cab businesses is a car loan taken on optimistic earnings, and hired drivers who leave.
Uber's own list of what each of its three partner types needs in India: a driver-owner needs a driving licence, vehicle registration, insurance and permit; a driver under a partner needs a licence; a non-driving fleet partner needs papers for each vehicle.
Business Standard's July 2025 report on the Motor Vehicles Aggregator Guidelines 2025, quoting the rule that a driver onboarded with their own vehicle must receive at least 80% of the fare, and the cap on surge pricing at twice the base fare.
A July 2026 guide to attaching cabs to Uber, Ola or Rapido versus running your own app: each cab needs a contract carriage permit, a driver with a PSV badge and police verification, and an AIS-140 tracker with panic button; aggregators pay drivers at least 80% of the fare on driver-owned vehicles.
The official description of Mudra loans for non-farm micro enterprises in manufacturing, trading and services: loans up to Rs 20 lakh in four tiers (Shishu, Kishore up to Rs 5 lakh, Tarun up to Rs 10 lakh, and Tarun Plus up to Rs 20 lakh for those who repaid a Tarun loan).
