Uber Driver Profiles Rolling Out In India, Aimed at Providing More Information

Uber wants to be more than just a tap-and-ride service. It wants create a community wherein the riders and drivers can engage on a more personal level. To this effect, the company is rolling out a new feature in India that will give drivers their own profiles. The Driver Profile feature will also incorporate the ability to leave compliments, a feature that was introduced last month.

The ride-sharing service says that the Driver Profile feature will let Uber drivers create their personalised profiles by adding information like the languages they speak, their home town, and recommendations. The Driver Profile will also include rider compliment badges and "thank you notes" left by past riders. There's also a Driver Achievements section that unlocks various badges such as completing 3,500 trips with 5-star rating or completing two years with Uber, to name a few. To bring up a Driver Profile, users can simply tap on the driver's name after booking a ride, or tap on past drivers' names to bring up their profiles.

The new feature aims to enhance the ride experience by allowing the driver and rider to engage in conversations, Uber says. Additionally, Driver Profile will also provide the rider with better knowledge about who's behind the wheel, which will help establish a greater level of trust. For drivers, features like rider compliments that was rolled out last month aim to motivate them to perform and serve better.

The latest feature is part of Uber's goal to roll out more innovations in India in areas like payments, bookings and rider and driver experience. Last month's feature brought the ability for riders to leave a compliment for drivers to encourage better service. Drivers will get a notification when a rider has left a compliment or a badge.

"At Uber, we are equally obsessed about driver partners and riders and as part of this focus, we are introducing a way for riders to know their driver partners better. With the introduction of Driver Profiles, driver partners can personalise an informative profile to share with riders that spark awesome conversations and experiences. We believe it will have a positive impact on furthering trust and empathy between riders and driver partners," said Apurva Dalal, Head of Engineering, Uber India.