Why Uber has a higher moral responsibility towards women in India
When Uber (the private/sharing cab service) made an entry in India, it made a promise to its prospective customers…
Quality in all aspects.
And I must accept the service has been up to the mark on almost all terms. However, the recent rape in New Delhi by a Uber driver has breached the very foundation of the trust the company was able to muster during its short tenure in the country. Moreover, the cab driver has been found to be a repeat offender. This has raised many questions about the policies Uber follows to recruit its drivers especially in India.
I understand that the company has ushered in a new era of tech inspired smart taxis in India. But I think that Uber and Uber-like services must understand that they have a higher level of responsibility in India which is infested with a very filthy disease called “Rape”. It cannot be refused that the security that these cab services provide (or rather promise) can really make a difference towards strengthening the position of women in this country.
Uber as a company has been accused of many wrong-doings all around the world including malpractices, snooping and unrealistic app permissions. It has never been accused with shoddy recruitment and bad drivers until this incident in New Delhi. Now, every company in the world works with a financial motivation and each has to figure out the best way to survive the tough competition. But should this ‘loopholing’ manifest into such a life-destroying and traumatic experience for customers who pay more not just for the convenience but also for trustworthiness and security.
Demographic studies should not only consider data for marketing. It should be considered for shaping company policy as well.
How can a tool as great as Big Data be confined just for marketing? You cannot expect the business rules applied in one country be applicable to another. Especially, in India where the demographics change not only based on socio-economic patterns but also based on languages and education. Aggressive expansion should be curbed not only as a government policy but also for the betterment of the company itself.
I think taking legal course to punish the culprit (the driver as well as the company) is the most logical and correct path for such situations but only as a patch and not as a permanent solution. However, the main action item should be to stop such incidents from happening altogether by designing (and implementing) stringent location specific rules. And No…Asking the women to stop using cabs or wearing ‘decent’ clothes or curfew timings is just not acceptable.
So here is an appeal to all the cab services in India:
Please consider security above everything else, especially aggressive expansion. Profits will follow.
It is only then we can truly ‘drive’ our women to empowerment.
I hope this message somehow reaches the policy makers of cab companies, which in turn could help them understand the gravity of the situation and the position of importance they are in.
