Uber on Thursday (November 14, 2024) announced several in-app driver-focused initiatives to improve the experience for drivers, including the introducing SOS integration with law enforcement authorities for emergency situations, helmet verification for two-wheeler drivers, and a new feature that allows women to prioritise safety by filtering for women riders.

Uber came to India in 2013, and now it claims to have over 10 lakh drivers on board. “Uber in India has the second largest market worldwide in terms of drivers,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber in a video message.

Uber claims more than 17 million monthly active users in India, and is present in 125 cities across the country. Uber driver partners complete 81 million trips every month here. Uber said that India is an incredibly important market for them as it offers opportunity to both drivers and riders to build a business and create livelihood.

“We continue to support the government’s initiative to provide a social security safety net for gig workers, including Uber drivers in India as we do elsewhere around the world,” said Prabhjeet Singh, President Uber India and South Asia.

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The ride hailing platform has also streamlined driver onboarding by using India’s digital public infrastructure like Aadhaar or PAN card to help them on board quickly. As part of onboarding, drivers have to upload multiple identity documents before driving and sometimes due to incorrect or poor quality documents, it gets delayed. Now, they can use either to verify and get on board.

In case of an emergency (SOS) now, drivers have the ability to share their live trip location and other critical trip details at the swipe of a button in the Uber app with the local police. It is live already in Telangana, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra with more states to follow including Delhi.

Uber has also introduced the women rider preference in the app to make them ‘feel much more comfortable.’ When matched with woman rider, especially in night. “With this new feature, we are giving them the choice to prioritise safety by allowing them to filter for women riders at times, when they feel it’s necessary,” said Uber.

Uber uses advanced machine learning model that allows woman drivers to only receive trips from women riders. It is completely flexible and drivers, can simply switch it off if they want to receive all trips, added Uber. It said that over 21 000 such trips have already been completed through this feature. It is now live across cities. “We hope that with this feature, this we will act as a strong catalyst in getting more women behind the wheel.”

For the two wheeler driver partners, Uber introduced helmet verification for two-wheeler drivers. The driver will be prompted to take a quick selfie while wearing their helmet. The selfie will be verified in real time, and if the driver is not wearing a helmet, they will be locked out and will only be able to take trips. This feature is under testing and Uber will roll it out early next year.

Uber has also introduced the audio recording feature for driver and riders, which is live across India. “This tool provides an additional layer of protection during trips allowing drivers to record audio if they ever feel uncomfortable or concerned about their safety.”

Uber said that the recording will be fully encrypted and remains stored locally on the driver’s device, even the driver cannot access it directly. Uber also does not have access to the audio, unless a driver chooses to submit it as part of a safety board, it added.

Uber also allowed upfront tipping within the app. It says that this feature can help get quicker rides and incentivise drivers. “This feature is helpful during busy times, when a rider is looking for a quicker pickup,” said Uber.

Uber said that they have revamped their payments deck to make use of UPI to make payments for drivers. It enables Uber to now instantly pay out the earnings to its drivers in India.

Drivers can now access their earnings from a digital paid trip within five seconds. To access instant payments, the driver needs to go to the wallet section of the Uber app. They can cash out and receive their earnings within that five seconds, but only up to four times a day.

Uber also showcased its deactivation review method where drivers can request for an additional review in case of their account deactivation on the platform.