In a latest blog post, Uber has announced the introduction of an ‘Integrated SOS Alter Solution for Law Enforcement’, which promises a better, robust and integrated security system for riders.
Deval Delivala, Uber’s India Safety Lead, said in the blog, “We welcome the opportunity to partner with more Police departments around the country to ensure your safety, and encourage law enforcement agencies to embrace new technology and improve accountability and traceability in urban mobility.”
How Will It Work?
In the month of February this year, Uber had introduced a series of security measures to ensure that their customers are safe during a ride. SOS feature was part of this new strategy.
From now on, whenever a Uber customer will press that SOS button:
- The rider would be able to connect with the police via call, immediately
- A real time ‘SOS alert’ is generated, which is sent to the nearest police control room
This SOS Alert will contain the exact vehicle location, tracked via GPS which is projected on a security devices monitored at the police control room. This will enable the law enforcement agencies to act swiftly and precisely incase of any mis-happening.
Interestingly, Uber has installed such monitoring devices across all major police control rooms, at their own expense. Deval said, “Yes, we’ve paid for the equipment we’ve given to police control rooms across the country,”
Uber & The Issue of Security
Last year, the online taxi service industry in India was rattled after an incident of rape happened in a Uber cab. There was a huge public outrage over this incident, which prompted the Govt. to immediately ban all such apps such as Uber, Ola and TaxiForSure. Although Uber re-entered the market with a radio taxi license in the month of January, Delhi Transport Department rejected their license, and the question of survival loomed large over them. Infact, Govt. even thought about banning their IP address to stop people from using their apps and to book cabs.
After the General Budget, Uber and other taxi aggregators were included in the service tax bracket, which helped them to legalize their standing. They immediately increased their fares after adding this service tax, and now as they are paying taxes and recognized as a radio taxi aggregator, their operations are running without any hiccups.
Uber is one of those disruptive business models which has changed everything. And now with enhanced security measures such as map based security and real time SOS alert with GPS, Uber is well on it’s way to charm their customers once again.
Safety in Uber cars is something that has come under scrutiny in India in particular. Last year, following an alleged rape case, the Delhi state government banned the car service from operating in New Delhi.
It’s about time law enforcement agencies embrace new technologies to improve and ensure safety. I’m loving the new SOS features. Homes and business security systems can also be improved upon like the wifi doorbell.