Ride-hailing app Uber has closed down its Mumbai office as a part of its global restructuring plan under which it aims to wind up as many as 45 offices around the world, reports said on Saturday. However, the company assured its customers in the city that it will continue to provide services to them.
“Uber continues to provide a high level of service to all its riders in Mumbai,” an Uber spokesperson told PTI.
PTI sources said the decision to close the Mumbai office was part of the global restructuring exercise. In May, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshai had written to employees informing them of the decision to close 45 offices globally
The decision to close and consolidate offices was taken as a response to combat with the impact of COVID-19 crisis on its business. Additionally, Uber had also said that it will be laying off about 600 employees (including its driver and rider support operations) in India.
As per CNBCTV18 report, Uber’s Mumbai office had employed around 25 permanent employees and over 150 contractual staff.
One of the PTI sources said many of the employees are expected to continue working from home to support the services as is being done currently in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It could not be immediately ascertained if the closure of the Mumbai office would include reduction in jobs as well.
Uber has a large office in Gurugram and tech centres in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. It also has smaller support offices in multiple cities.
Globally, in May, it had announced a reduction of customer support and recruiting teams by approximately 6,700 full-time employee roles and attributed the move to lower trip volumes and current hiring freeze.