Uber in India Will Now Ask for 4-Digit OTP Before Starting Trips

The new set of features from Uber will gradually make its way to the users in the coming weeks.

Uber adding these features for its user’s safety in India.

(Photo Courtesy: iStock)

Uber on Thursday announced a slew of safety features for its users in India that will be rolled out to them in the coming days. The company says that its users will now have to share 4-digit code before starting their trip via Uber Cab, Auto or Moto among others.

There have been multiple reports over the past few months, which claims that Uber has been testing this feature, and Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, speaking to The Verge, had confirmed the feature will be rolled out soon.

This will more or less work similarly to that of Ola cabs in India, which introduced this feature to make sure a driver doesn’t start the ride without on-boarding the passenger.

The code feature ensures that a driver doesn’t take undue advantage of starting a journey, something which has worked in Ola’s favour in the market. We even spotted the feature being tested in the country a few months back, and now it will be available to all its users.

The 4-digit code was being tested in India over the past few months.(Photo: The Verge (right) and The Quint (left)

In addition to this, Uber is also bringing two more features that it claims will help with a safer journey for its riders.

The feature called Ride Check gets enabled if a cab makes an unplanned stop during its trip. Once that happens, Uber will call both the driver as well as the customer to check if everything is fine. This is done by tracking the driver’s smartphone and if he stops unexpectedly, Uber will be alerted to take action.

“Privacy is incredibly important for Uber and all these tools are designed keeping that in mind. We will continue to refine these technologies so we can help make every ride a 5-star experience for all.”

Sachin Kansal, Senior Director - Global Safety Products, Uber

And finally Uber is also giving its driver-partners as well as users to record the audio of their entire trip, if they wish to, and share it with the company. Not sure how this feature will work (possibly Uber will seek permission to use the phone’s microphone). The company did mention it will run it first via pilot tests and then bring it for all the users.

Both Uber and Ola have been adding a new set of features for their users in India, and while Ola has been offering the OTP option for many years, Uber is now following in its rival’s footsteps.