Being rude or unruly during Uber rides may now lead to riders being blocked from using the cab aggregator’s application.
The U.S.-based firm on Tuesday announced updation of its community guidelines following which a “small minority” of riders may lose access to their Uber appfor persistent bad behaviour.
“We are notifying a small number of riders, who have consistently been rated poorly by drivers over a prolonged period of time, to improve their behaviour. If that doesn’t happen, a handful of riders could lose access to the Uber application,” Prabhjeet Singh, Uber India and South Asia Head of Cities, said.
Rider behaviour will be reflected in the ratings given by their drivers. Mr. Singh stressed that the step would be taken only if riders’ ratings fall below a minimum average after several notifications. He, however, did not share the rating benchmark. Currently, both drivers and passengers can rate each other on the Uber app after each ride. “The updated guidelines extend the same behavioural standards to the riders that Uber has for the driver partners... these guidelines will help us to foster mutual respect between riders and drivers,” Mr. Singh added.
Driver safety
Additionally, the cab aggregator has introduced a driver safety tool-kit for its driver partners. Under this, drivers will be able to share the trip details with their friends and family from within the application and use an emergency assistance button to connect with law enforcement agencies during an unwanted emergency situation.
Uber has also incorporated a feature wherein drivers will be alerted when they exceed the speed limit.
“There can be no Uber without driver partners — they are at the centre of Uber’s business. The national roll-out of an emergency button and the ‘share trip feature’ reiterates our commitment to their safety,” he said. Reasons for riders losing access to Uber would include damage to drivers’ or other passengers’ property, use of abusive language or gestures and breaking local laws while using Uber.