Cab-hailing platform Uber India on Thursday announced new product features, including upfront destination feature for drivers. Uber said it has started showing trip destinations to drivers before they decide to accept or not. The feature comes at a time when riders have complained about drivers canceling trips, said the company.
“To remove frustration for riders and drivers alike, we are now showing trip destinations to drivers before they decide to accept the ride. In our attempt to incentivise right platform behaviour – drivers who meet a predefined trip acceptance threshold will be eligible to get the destination information so that they can make an informed choice. The upfront destination feature is already live across 20 cities and will be expanded to all others,” said Uber in a statement.
Uber also said that over the past few weeks it has raised fares to cushion drivers from the impact of rising fuel prices across many cities in India.
Uber said it has introduced additional earnings for drivers in case they have to travel a long distance to pick up riders.
“Drivers understandably don’t like having to drive out of their way to pick up passengers. To fix this, we have introduced additional earnings for drivers in case they have to travel a long distance to pick up riders. This will give drivers the comfort to accept more trips and will benefit riders as trip reliability goes up. Drivers will be able to see the earnings for long pick-ups, separately displayed on the fare receipt. When drivers are few, and demand is high, this will help ensure that you can get a ride when you need one,” said the company.
Uber also announced flexibility around payments for its drivers.
“Everybody’s needs are different and when it comes to payment mode or cycle – we want to make it as easy for drivers to have it the way they like it. Drivers at the Uber advisory council meeting told us they would like more flexibility around payments. We are now showing drivers the mode of payment (cash or online) before the trip starts. This enables the driver to choose a cash-only ride if that’s what they need. Going a step further to make the cash or online decision irrelevant, we’ve now introduced a daily pay process for drivers. This will ensure that trip earnings from Monday to Thursday, are credited to drivers the next day, while earnings from Friday to Sunday, are credited on Monday,” said Uber.
The additional features come at a time when Uber Technologies recently announced a fresh round of recruitment for its India tech centres, outlining plans to hire 500 more techies by December.
The app-based mobility and delivery company has a 1,000-member tech team across its centres in Hyderabad and Bengaluru.
The company plans to hire 500 more tech employees by December, it added.
Uber hired 250 engineers to its India teams in 2021. The company has been expanding teams at all its tech centres across the globe, including the US, Canada, Latin America, Amsterdam, and at its twin centres in India.
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