Asia Tech Wire (July 30) -- U.S. ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc. has introduced a concurrent rides feature in India.

According to TechCrunch, Uber is rolling out concurrent rides, a feature that allows users to book up to three trips at the same time for any contact, in several parts of India.

The report on Monday said that Uber secretly rolled out the concurrent rides feature in several global markets last year, including the U.S.

Now, an Uber spokesperson has confirmed that the company is rolling out the feature in India and plans to roll it out gradually in the Asian country.

As per the report, an Uber user in India can book rides for his or her family members or friends and share information about the trip via the instant messaging app WhatsApp or a text message.

The message contains the driver's full name, cab model and registration number, Uber's contact number to reach the driver, a link to track the ride, and a four-digit PIN to start the ride.

Apart from allowing the Uber user to pay the driver through the app, the concurrent riders can also pay directly in cash or through the app.