The service is plainly better. The cars are better, the drivers are rated, payment is easier, hailing is easier, knowing where your cab is and how long it will be and how much is will cost before you start your ride ... is better.
I live in the Twin Cities ... not a place where cabs are dense enough to just hail one walking down the street (unless it's in a prime drinking/sporting hour & location).
Uber, Lyft, and the city of Minneapolis worked together to make uber-like services legal while giving concessions to the local traditional taxi drivers without compromising appropriate regulations. Everyone behaved reasonably which is sadly extremely rare everywhere else.
The running theory is that unreasonable people either leave Minnesota or are found only after the snow thaws (please don't take this too seriously :) )
'flaunting' was a carefully chosen word.
1. Time/Convenience: India does not have a system like America where you can hail cabs, they are only booked via an agency. These bookings need to be made some hours in advance. A pre-Uber thing (which I'm sure is still common in non-metropolotian parts of india) was to book an appropriately sized cab a day before we have a flight or train to catch. With Uber, request an Uber XL and you're done.
2. Price: As expected, these agencies work out to be pretty expensive. Uber is almost 50% cheaper.
I personally use Uber when I'm with people or have luggage with me. Otherwise India does have a very good metro train and also has autorickshaws (aka tuk tuk) but the former is not point to point and the latter seats 3 people at best (and an Uber sometimes works out to be cheaper than a autorickshaw)
I think that currently only a small part of India uses Uber significantly, but those who do have nothing but praise (anecdotal). Uber has better quality and better drivers for a better price. That said, the market seems large enough to warrant competitors like Ola and Meru.
* I'm yet to have an Uber driver clearly on methamphetamine, but a notable number of taximeter drivers
* No quibbling over the price or trying to overcharge from Uber
* Uber cars always have seatbelts, it's rare to find them in the back seat of taximeters
* Even if the Uber driver doesn't know the place you're going to, they've got a map, and directions, and they'll use them
* No worrying about if you've got sufficient loose change; you can be sure the taximeter driver will have a real shortage currently if you have only big notes
And on and on and on...
> Does anyone know what market flaws they're solving in India and Asia?
Well the only market flaw they appear to be solving here is that they aren't hoarding more of the money in the market...
Some of the local competitors have some of that (e.g. Zoomy), but they charge extra fees for paying though the app which makes them expensive, and also means you need to go through more of a process when the ride is finished.
Uber is a breath of fresh air here. It doesn't force a destination, you can instantly know whether cars are available or not, generally arrives in 10 minutes or so, and there is no cash payment needed.
Where price is concerned, they've now managed to figure out the right pricing, so that an Uber ride costs only marginally more than a regular cab ride. e.g. Home to work takes around Rs 200 for a regular cab. Uber costs anywhere from Rs 220 (Uber X), to 350 (Uber Black).