Uber Bookings rose by 9pc in March

The ride-hailing business Uber reported a 9 percent increase in its bookings for March, 2021 with an annualized run rate of $30 billion.

This record increase in gross bookings indicates the comeback of ride-hailing businesses, which have suffered from a fall in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the company, the increase in vaccination rates in the United States have boosted consumer demand for mobility and hence, resulted in a rise in bookings for the ride-hailing business.

In addition to this, UberEats, which is the company's food delivery segment, also witnessed an increase in its annual run rate in March as compared to the same month last year, coming in at $52 billion, as reported by The Verge.

It is important to note, that Uber had reported a net loss of $6.7 billion for the year 2020 with the company losing $968 million only in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Moreover, the ride-hailing business also announced a $250 million “stimulus” of incentives for its drivers on the 7th of April to ensure that it had enough driver available to provide its services.

According to Dennis Cinelli, Uber’s vice president for mobility in the US and Canada, the company did not have enough drivers to offer trips, even though more and more riders were requesting for these trips.