Uber, the world’s largest on-demand ride-sharing company recently, announced a partnership with Delhi Police to allow quick access to Himmat, a women safety mobile app, through the rider app. Through this initiative, Uber joins hands with the law enforcement agency to add one more layer of safety for women riders using Uber.
This is Delhi Police’s first partnership with a technology company to intensify its focus on the safety of women in the city. With this partnership, Himmat will now be accessible to lakhs of women riders in one go. Since its launch in January 2015, around 90,000 people have downloaded the Himmat app and it currently has over 31,000 registered users. Uber aims to act as a force multiplier and expand its access to all of Uber’s women riders.
Speaking on the partnership, Shweta Rajpal Kohli, Head – Public Policy, Uber India & South Asia, said, “At Uber, safety of riders is paramount. We believe that technology-led solutions to overcoming safety challenges are increasingly vital to making mega-cities like Delhi safe for women. We are honored to be partnering with the Delhi Police in this critical mission. Combining access to the Himmat app through Uber is a big step towards strengthening the safety net available to lakhs of women riders. We applaud the efforts taken by the Delhi Police to prioritise safety of women and believe that the Himmat app is a great initiative in this direction.”
The first phase of this partnership will see Uber developing a permanent in-app access for for the Himmat app, including a link to download it from the app store. The second phase will allow users to directly access the Himmat app from within the Uber app. The third and final phase will involve an API Integration between both the apps.
Mr. Sanjay Baniwal, Special Commissioner Police, Women Safety, Airports and Modernisation, said, “The Delhi Police is committed to the safety of women across the city. Technology helps enable a more robust surveillance network and allows Himmat be harnessed to provide quick and timely assistance to women in distress. Through this partnership with Uber, we believe more women riders in Delhi will be sensitised about the availability of this assistance at hand. In addition to the Emergency Button in the Uber app, riders will now have one more touch point to access the police helpline in case of an emergency.”
The event was also attended by Mr. Madhur Verma, DCP-Crime Branch, Delhi Police, who believes that women’s safety becomes even more crucial in a society that has a parochial mindset. He said, “The Delhi Police wants safety for all. To come out of the parochial mindsets, special women safety campaigns are needed. On our part, we have a helpline number 1091. In the world of social media, there are instances of cyber stalking and we have introduced anti-stalking helpline number 1096. Himmat app is Delhi Police’s another step towards women’s safety. It’s important for us to focus on safety and we are glad that Uber is taking us to more women.”
Moving people from point A to B, is a huge responsibility. We, at Uber, believe that technology provides an incredible opportunity to improve road safety in new and innovative ways before, during and after every ride.
- Before the ride begins, a rider can double-check the license plate, driver name and photo shown in the app. Riders are able to see a driver’s rating to determine if they wish to proceed with a journey. Drivers are also periodically required to take a selfie before going online to drive with Uber to make sure the driver on the account matches the driver behind the wheel. If the face doesn’t match, we block the driver from accepting rides.
- During the trip, a rider can share trip details with friends and family, including estimated time of arrival and the specific route taken. The Uber rider app also features an Emergency button that can be used in the rare case of emergency while on an Uber ride to connect with the local police. Our incident response teams also gets notified instantly, and connects with the rider.
- After the ride ends, two-way feedback is another way for us to pre-empt and resolve potential issues.
Uber’s mission is to bring reliable transportation to everywhere, for everyone. We started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get a ride at the touch of a button? Six years and more than two billion trips later, we’ve started tackling an even greater challenge: reducing congestion and pollution in our cities by getting more people into fewer cars.
