Uber commits Rs 100 Cr towards driver welfare initiatives amid pandemic

Ride-hailing platform Uber said it has undertaken various activities supporting driver-partners and their families to weather the impact of COVID-19 with a commitment of Rs 100 crore towards these programmes.

Driver-partners across moto, auto, and car have benefitted from initiatives like Uber Care Driver fund, COVID-19 financial assistance, vaccination compensation for drivers, safety kit distribution, free online doctor consultation, and microloans, Uber said in a statement.

"At Uber, we believe our role doesn't end at creating opportunities by providing a platform to drivers. We have created a community of thousands of driver-partners, and we continue to engage with them with a view to provide them with more to enrich their lives," Uber India South Asia President Prabhjeet Singh said.

He added that this is reflected in Uber's extensive work in the past 18 months to help driver partners recover from the pandemic and rebuild their lives.

"By investing upwards of Rs 100 crore in these initiatives, we have been successful in supporting and empowering driver partners with improved access to health insurance, financial support, vaccination, and medical consultations," he said.

The ride hailing platform had created the Uber Care Driver Fund with an initial commitment of Rs 25 crore from Uber, benefitting about one lakh driver-partners. The company also spent Rs 6 crore each towards safety kit and safety screen distribution among driver partners.

Earlier this year, Uber announced about Rs 2 crore worth of COVID-19 financial assistance programme for driver partners.

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An additional Rs 18.5 crore worth of cash incentives were pledged to encourage driver-partners to get vaccinated by compensating them for the time spent in getting the shots. More than 2.5 lakh driver-partners on the platform have already received at least one vaccine shot, the statement said.

Also, microloans worth Rs 18 crore were facilitated for driver-partners in the past two years (2020 and 2021), it said adding that free online doctor consultations have been facilitated for over 75,000 drivers and their families in the same time frame.

Another Rs 22.6 crore was spent on other driver benefits and forging partnerships with the driver community.