Will SOS button rescue Uber in India?

Two new buttons on the Uber app – only in India – are the company’s latest moves to persuade consumers and authorities that it is serious about safety. The rape of an Uber passenger in Delhi two months ago had led to ban of the service in several Indian cities and closer scrutiny of Uber’s driver screening and safety measures.

After initially resisting the move, Uber applied to transport authorities for a radio taxi license, although it is yet to fulfill all the required conditions. Then it tied up with First Advantage for background checking, which it touted as “additional layers of screening.”.

Now an Uber blog post announces two new in-app features in India.

The first is an SOS button at the top right corner. One tap brings up a dialog box asking if you’re sure you want to call the police. Another tap sends an SOS message to the police.

The second feature is “Send Status.” Once the app assigns a driver, a message can be sent out to a group of five contacts, providing the driver photo, vehicle details, and GPS tracking location. This can be done before the driver arrives as well as any time during the ride.

The main issues for Uber, however, remain the screening of drivers and getting city taxi permits for all the vehicles hooked up to its app. The confidence of consumers is shaken because Uber had claimed to be going even beyond local requirements in its screening of drivers. These were found to be hollow claims after the rape and subsequent ban.

See: I fell for Uber’s safe image because I didn’t – and still don’t – have better options