Dial-a-cab service Uber, has reacted to all the criticism it’s facing by adding an SOS button for calling the police and a Send Status feature to its app. Criticism is not the only thing Uber has had to deal with following the alleged molestation of a customer by one of its drivers. The company also seemed to be sure that a complete ban on its service in India was looming.
Hence the SOS button which is positioned on the upper right corner of the app’s interface. Tapping on this is enough to automatically place a call to the nearest police station. Th Send Status option is built to let you share information about the Uber driver and automobile in question, to a preset group of contacts. The process can be completed with two simple presses, at the end of which five pre-selected people will get the details of your ride.
Send Status enables live GPS tracking apart from sharing of the driver’s name and photograph well as the license number of the vehicle you’re in. Uber has highlighted the fact that it has shared all it has on driver and vehicle data with traffic police and the transport department in order to help the police re-verification procedure.
Also see: Uber introduces vehicle financing programs for its drivers in India
It has added another step towards screening candidates which involves First Advantage, a third-party firm dealing with background checks. Uber does not have a fleet of cars of its own. Instead, those have a vehicle and are interested in signing up with the company can do so. Once accepted, drivers operate under the Uber branding.
Uber has rolled out the SOS button and Send Status option only for its Android application in India. iOS users will have to wait a bit before they start seeing the update. The company plans to introduce these changes in its app for other nations.