Uber, police partner for passenger safety

NEWDELHI: Passengers hiring Uber cabs from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport can now send a direct alert to the taxi aggregator and Delhi Police at the same time if they want to report a problem during their travel.

The facility started Monday as part of a collaboration between Uber and Delhi Police. To start with, 1,000 Uber cabs found frequenting the airport have been enabled with this feature.

Delhi Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik said the police’s Himmat Plus App has been integrated with Uber’s safety response system.

When a passenger reports an emergency, it will also send the cab’s real-time location to Delhi Police headquarters so that a police control room van can be reach the passenger.

“However, when the passenger presses the emergency button in the Uber mobile application, it gives them an option of whether they want to share their real-time location and other trip details with the newly integrated Himmat Plus App to alert the police. If the matter is of fare or related to any other cab service, passengers may chose to only alert Uber. Whenever they feel the need to alert the police, they will have an option available with them,” Patnaik, who inaugurated the facility on Monday, said.

Deputy commissioner of police (Delhi Airport) Sanjay Bhatia said as of now, they have distributed 1000 Himmat QR verification cards to Uber cab drivers.

“Once a passenger scans the QR card, they can access driver’s details and vehicle information in Delhi Police’s Himmat App, and can report their journey directly to Delhi Police via the Himmat App if need be,” he said.