Has it ever happened to you that you needed to book a Uber cab for someone else from your smartphone – It may be for any reason, maybe the person who needs a Uber does not have a smartphone, or does not have internet access on their phone or are not comfortable using Uber App. Whatever the reason, most of us have come across such a situation one time or the other.
However, till now it was extremely difficult to book a Uber ride for other, but no more – going forward you will be able to do just that as Uber has announced a new feature where you can “Request a Ride for Others”
It seems, for Uber, India is an extremely important country. In a span of 3 days they have now announced second India-specific feature. Earlier this week they introduced ‘Uber Dial’, where one could book an Uber ride without need of having the app on their smartphone.
How does it work
The new feature is available on the latest version of the app only, so you will need to first download or update the app to the latest version. Once you have the updated app, simply open the Uber app and place the pin on the map with the pick-up location from where you want someone to be picked up by Uber. After this, you will need to pick your friend’s contact information from the address book of your phone. Post that you will need to choose the preferred payment method, which includes cash, wallet or the saved credit card.
Once the request is confirmed, two SMSes will be sent to the rider – one will have details about the trip along with name and contact details of the driver and other SMS will have link to track the ride. This allows the rider to keep a track of their ride as well as get in touch with driver if needed.
This new feature is surely going to help many as we constantly come across instances when we need to book rides for others.
Uber is definitely making a mark by bringing these new India-specific features which are not only well thought out but solve the real world problems. It will be interesting to see how Ola responds to these new developments from Uber. While, Ola still remains to be the player with largest market share, Uber has been advancing fast and with these new feature launches, more people are expected to join the Uber tribe!
