The Cost Of Uber Vs Car Ownership In India

Based on my tweet earlier, I got a lot of feedback on this topic. My rough calculation concluded that it was much cheaper to use Uber/Ola than owning a car.

To corroborate, I decided to polish my rough excel and create a self help version for anyone to play with various scenarios in case Uber/Ola decides to increase their prices in the future.

Today the cost of owning a (5lac) car is higher than taking @uber every day. This will no longer be the case if per KM cost goes to Rs.12

— Deepak Abbot (@deepakabbot) July 31, 2015

UBER vs Car Ownership Cost Sheet

Note: If you want to compare against Ola, then take per KM cost of Rs.12.92 for cheapest Ola which takes into account Rs.100 for first 4 km, Rs.8 afterwards & Rs.1 for each minute.

Uber’s net per KM cost comes to Rs.11 if you take the base fare + other charges.

Owning a car has some non-monetary benefits like: 

1. Emergencies

2. Large families

3. Weekend/Out of Town trips

4. Pride of ownership

5. Less Hassle (calling & coordinating)

6. Enhanced safety (known environment)

Uber vs Own Diesel Car

Note:  If you want to compare against Ola, then take per KM cost of Rs.12.92 for cheapest Ola which takes into account Rs.100 for first 4 km, Rs.8 afterwards & Rs.1 for each minute Uber’s net per KM cost comes to Rs.11 if you take the base fare + other charges

Owning a car has some non-monetary benefits like: 

1. Emergencies

2. Large families

3. Weekend/Out of Town trips

4. Pride of ownership

5. Less Hassle (calling & coordinating)

6. Enhanced safety (known environment)

Ola vs Own Petrol Car

Note: If you want to compare against Ola, then take per KM cost of Rs.12.92 for cheapest Ola which takes into account Rs.100 for first 4 km, Rs.8 afterwards & Rs.1 for each minute.

Uber’s net per KM cost comes to Rs.11 if you take the base fare + other charges 

Ola vs Own Diesel Car

Note: If you want to compare against Ola, then take per KM cost of Rs.12.92 for cheapest Ola which takes into account Rs.100 for first 4 km, Rs.8 afterwards & Rs.1 for each minute.

Uber’s net per KM cost comes to Rs.11 if you take the base fare + other charges 

Here is the link to download the excel calculator. Have fun calculating!

Some findings

Overall car ownership will be cheaper if one doesn’t keep a driver. However the point is that we need to compare the similar deliverables — chauffeur driven 5 Lakh (Swift Dzire) type car.

At INR 16km rate, Uber/Ola will turn out to be more expensive than owning a car. So keep Ubering till they reach that point 🙂
Also The Times of India published the following graphical version of this sheet in the newspaper today:

Let me know your feedback!