Uber Partners Delhi Police To Enhance Passenger Safety Via Live Tracking

In a bid to enhance passenger safety, cab aggregator Uber India has partnered with Delhi Police to integrate its safety features with Delhi Police’s Himmat app.

The integration will help Delhi Police receive the real-time locations of drivers and passengers. In case of an emergency, the live tracking will help Delhi Police assign the closest police station to act on the call and prevent any unfortunate event from happening. It must be noted that sharing live location with the Delhi Police is going to be optional for passengers.

To enable this real-time tracking on the Himmat app, Uber and Delhi Police have provided Himmat QR verification cards to driver-partners. Once a passenger scans the QR card, they can access driver-partners’ details and vehicle information in the Himmat app. They can also report their journey directly to the Delhi Police via the Himmat app. Currently, 1000 such QR car have been distributed to Uber’s driver-partners in Delhi.

In case of an emergency situation, riders can contact police on the Himmat app. After reporting an emergency situation, the Uber safety response team will call the user and inquire if they want to share real-time location link and a few other details with Delhi Police control room or not. If the rider provides consent, then Uber will share details such as name, contact number, emergency contact number, real-time location of driver, car details, and details of the driver.

Delhi Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik said the integration with enhanced location services and travel information will help save lives. “With conscious efforts like QR card distribution among driver-partners, private partners like Uber are working with us directly in making Delhi safer for all our residents and visitors,” he added.

Both Uber and Delhi Police are also looking to extend this partnership by providing more QR cards to Uber’s drivers. The company is also looking to integrate emergency number 112 on the Uber app.

Last month, Uber launched a PIN-based verification for riders and drivers. For this, a PIN will be shown to the rider as soon as they book the ride and will have to tell this to the driver to begin the trip.

While Uber’s competitor Ola was already offering this feature for the last few years, the only difference in Uber’s PIN-based verification is that it is left the option to opt for this or not to the passengers.

Uber also launched a Ridecheck feature, where both the driver and the rider will be alerted if the trip is paused for a while. This feature is currently been tested in a few countries in Latin America.

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