Uber developed an app designed exclusively for its drivers that includes a tracker revealing their earnings in real-time as a renewed effort to show its commitment with the Indian market and display its goodwill to satisfy both its clients and employees.
The new app comes after Uber’s ‘180 days of change’ program that was launched in June last year in a bid to reply to the diverse requests of Uber’s drivers, such as a tip system and compensation for time wasted in waiting for passengers.
“While 180 Days was about correcting missteps of the past, we also needed to think longer term, and the obvious place to start was the Driver app,” Chief Executive Officer Dara Khosrowshahi said in a statement.
The new app will include lots of useful and new features such as a status bar designed to facilitate drivers in deciding which location is witnessing a spike of Uber cabs requests, a notification feature put in place to inform drivers of their upcoming earnings opportunities and a Drivers Profile that allows drivers to showcase themselves to their potential customer and let the latter know more about the person driving them. The app comes after a trial version was developed in collaboration with the drivers.
“Drivers are the heart of our service. But along the way, we lost sight of that. We focused too much on growth and not enough on the people who made that growth possible,” wrote Uber’s CEO in a statement.
Last year, Uber came forward with a series of new policies and facilities which included a new navigation system and a more reasonable approach to performance review, which came after years of criticism from drivers about the treatment they received and the salary they received.
Uber does not employ its drivers; instead, its drivers operate as ‘free-lancers’ and do not get any kind of paid sick leave or vacation. Additionally, the drivers also have to bear the costs of car maintenance and other car-related costs.
Uber is facing a fierce competition with Ola and have already been ejected from the Southeast Asian markets it was foraying. To add to Uber’s worries, the firm lost around $4.5 billion last year and is even seeing red in their native America where competition is becoming increasingly more difficult and in Europe, they are paying the price of regulatory crackdown. The company is presently preparing to go public in 2019 and Khosrowshahi will cross fingers that this step will work positively for them.