It may be in the eye of a recurring storm over unruly drivers and nightmarish rider experiences—the latest coming from commuters to Bengaluru airport the last few days. However, Uber, on Thursday afternoon, went ahead and announced a slew of measures to keep its 11 lakh strong drivers in the country happy.
These include measures ranging from cash incentives to the first 10,000 drivers who register for social security benefits on the government’s e-Shram portal to SOS (location-embedded messages to police control room at the press of a button; presently available in three states) and audio recording features for safety, quicker reimbursal of earnings via UPI (can cashout five times a day, which was earlier available only on a weekly basis), mentorship programmes, and the works.
In fact, one of the new measures to keep drivers happy is an option for passengers to add a tip to the fare upfront, which, according to Uber officials, will incentivise the driver to pick up that rider faster.
Tip before the trip!
In other words, add a good tip even before the trip, and you might just get your ride faster.
When asked whether it puts customers at a disadvantage and forces them to shell out a tip if they want a ride quickly, Uber South Asia chief Prabhjeet Singh said it was all about giving a choice.
Prabhjeet Singh, president of Uber India and South Asia | Sanjay Ahlawat
Another feature is focused on its minuscule number of female drivers, providing them with the option to pick up women passengers at certain times if they feel so.
Interestingly, a similar facility is not available for women riders to opt for women drivers. While Uber’s safety chief Sooraj Nair said he could not comment on why it is so, a representative for Uber said this was because the number of women drivers was still pretty small and giving any such option would have meant inordinately long waiting periods for customers.
Honouring the drivers
Uber’s “driver first” initiative also saw Uber drivers around the country getting felicitated, right from Shambhu Mondal from Delhi—Uber’s oldest driver with 11 years of service—to Balu R from Bengaluru, who holds the record for the most 5-star trips in the country, and more.
“We take pride in being the platform of choice for over a million drivers in India,” said Singh, “The updates announced today empower drivers, enhance their safety and offer greater convenience with more transparency in their everyday operations.”
The SOS button safety feature for drivers linked to state police control rooms is presently available only in select towns in Maharashtra, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. Uber Officials said they are in talks with many state police departments to expand this, including Delhi.
Uber has about 1.7 crore active users in India using its 11 lakh strong driver base, taking an average of eight crore trips every month in 125 cities and towns across the country.
