ET has reported earlier how increasing competition in the ride-hailing space has resulted in platforms offering better incentive and payout structures to gig workers.
Uber’s move comes at a time when it is facing heat in the four-wheeler taxi space from WestBridge-backed Rapido, Google-backed Namma Yatri and all-electric taxi firm BluSmart.
“In India, drivers can now access their earnings from a digital trip within five seconds, giving them complete freedom and control over their hard earned money just seconds after the trip is complete,” said Prabhjeet Singh, president, Uber India & South Asia.
Uber has more than 1 million drivers in India, making it the second largest market worldwide in terms of drivers, said Singh.
It is also introducing upfront tipping where riders who wish to get a ride instantly without delay can add a tip before the trip begins, which will incentivise drivers to accept the ride, boosting their income.
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While Uber charges a commission to its drivers, new business models have emerged over the past few years where players such as Namma Yatri and Rapido levy a subscription fee for drivers to access customers using their platforms.“We need to keep innovating to make sure that Uber remains the number one platform of choice for drivers today…we’re making every design change based on specific driver feedback. We’re launching several industry first features that put drivers first,” he added.
In an interview with ET on September 10, Singh had said that ride-hailing platforms in India do not have enough vehicles to fulfil the fast-growing consumer demand.
In November last year, the company had rolled out the Uber Pro programme to give its drivers benefits such as area preference, discounted vehicle maintenance and motor insurance, as well as enhanced micro-credit offerings – in an effort to reduce churn on the platform.
On Thursday, Uber also introduced a ‘women rider’ preference, which gives women drivers the option to accept only female riders during late hours.
“Despite the flexibility which platforms like Uber offer, the participation of women as drivers is still far lower than what we would like it to be, both as a platform and also as a country…Some of the women drivers actually said there are times of the day when I want to be able to pick only women riders, particularly late evenings or in locations which are unfamiliar to me. At the same time, sometimes I would like to be able to accept requests from everyone. So the best thing to do is to actually use technology to give that choice,” Singh added.
