Reliance's Jio hails Uber ride in payments battle with PayTM

An employee walks at the office of ride-hailing service Uber in Gurugram, previously known as Gurgaon, on the outskirts of New Delhi, India, April 19, 2016. REUTERS/Anindito Mukherjee/File Photo

MUMBAI: Uber users in India, who until now had Chinese Internet giant Alibaba-backed PayTM as the only payment wallet option available to book a ride, will now be able to pay through Reliance Jio Infocomm's Jio Money.

Reliance said on Monday it had struck a partnership with Uber Technologies Inc which will help it challenge PayTM's dominance in digital payments.
Such transactions rose in popularity after a cash crunch caused due to the government's move to scrap some currency notes in November.
Reliance, which launched Jio Money in December, said it also plans to soon allow users to book and pay for Uber rides from the app itself, a feature that PayTM does not offer.
(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in Mumbai; Editing by Alexander Smith)

- Reuters