Uber has announced the launch of emergency in-app support for drivers and riders in Nigeria in partnership with Sety.
At a press briefing in Lagos on Thursday, the Country Manager for Uber in Nigeria, Tope Akinwumi, emphasised that safety was a core priority for the business.
He said, “Safety is at the heart of what we do at Uber and over the years, we have invested heavily in technology and other measures to help keep drivers and riders safe on the platform.”
Akinwumi added, “We are putting safety at the heart of everything we do and always looking at ways to improve safety on the platform.
“Not only are we passionate about helping people travel from point A to B, we are committed to being a leading safety innovator, using new technology to improve safety standards for all riders and drivers operating on our platform.”
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer, Sety, Nnamdi Melie, said, “Sety is proud to partner with Uber in Nigeria in empowering riders and drivers with our on-trip emergency response service.
“Our collaboration with Uber underscores our shared commitment to prioritising and utilising digital technology to enhance safety of our customers and partners, thus ensuring the well-being of all Nigerians as a whole.”
The audio recording feature would allow riders and drivers to use the app to record and share audio of their trip as evidence in the case of a safety incident, something that drivers had been asking for based on their feedback from roundtable sessions, Uber said.
It said, “This new opt-in audio recording feature has been successful in South Africa where over 3,400 drivers and 80,000 riders who use the Uber app set up the feature during the pilot period.
“Uber believes the new audio recording feature will improve the overall quality of evidence collected on the safety incidents that are reported by both riders and drivers.”
