NEW DELHI — Ride-hailing major Uber on Wednesday announced the launch of a new
service called ‘Uber for Teens’ in India, which, the company claimed, is
designed to offer safe and reliable transportation options for teenagers aged
13 to 17 years in the country.
This service has been rolled out across 37 cities in the
country, including Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and
Kolkata, among others.
The service comes with a set of strict safety protocols,
including GPS tracking, real-time ride tracking, and an in-app emergency
button. “This is to ensure that both teens and their parents feel secure while
using the service,” claimed the company.
A key feature of ‘Uber for Teens’ is that it allows
parents to have oversight on the rides their children book.
Parents can create a Teens account, which lets them
request rides on behalf of their teens, track the rides in real-time, and even
receive detailed ride summaries after the trip.
This adds an extra layer of security, making it easier
for parents to monitor their teens’ travel.
“We recognise the unique transportation challenges faced
by teenagers and their families in India. With Uber for Teens, we are committed
to addressing these challenges by providing a service that parents can trust,
and that teens will find easy and cool to use,” said Prabhjeet Singh,
President, Uber India and South Asia.
Meanwhile, a recent survey conducted by Uber revealed
that 92 per cent of parents had faced challenges with finding reliable
transportation options for their teens to attend activities.
Safety was the biggest concern for 72 per cent of parents
when it came to choosing transport for their children.
The survey also showed that many parents often had to use
their own cars to take their teens to extracurricular activities or coaching
classes.
Specifically, 63 per cent of parents said they used their
own vehicles for sports or extracurricular activities, while 61 per cent did
the same for after-school coaching.