Ola and Uber are the two cab companies which have taken the country by storm. With rising popularity, these cab companies face certain hindrances which are unique to India. One of these problems is: the issue of women drivers.
Given that the issue of women’s safety is a highly sensitive one in India, many women from metropolitan cities prefer to use cab companies like Ola and Uber to travel instead of conventional taxis, the reason being the relative safety of these cars. After all, when the driver knows that you have his details, then he is hardly likely to assault you. Or so the thinking goes in India. However, some incidents have been reported where female passengers have been harassed in Ola and Uber cars. The solution: women drivers in Ola and Uber. While this solution seems simple, implementing it practically has been a nightmare.
Here are some problems which have been faced by cab companies such as Ola and Uber in hiring more women drivers:
Safety of women drivers
When discussing safety, we must remember that the safety of the driver is just as important as the safety of the passenger. Keeping in mind that Ola and Uber drivers spend a lot of time dropping off drunken people home from late-night parties; can the safety of the driver be maintained effectively?
Attitude towards the profession
In a country where the aim of the household is to produce a doctor or an engineer, the profession of a taxiwala, as people like to call it, gets looked down upon. We must keep in mind the fact that Ola and Uber drivers are well paid professionals who have a steady job, and some earn a lot more than regular engineers.
Attitude towards working women
Even in this age, many households feel that the job of a woman is to maintain the house and raise the kids. While those responsibilities are certainly very noble and we at The Hacker Street respect those women who dedicate their lives to maintaining a family, there are Indian women who wish to work for a living, and have to fight to make it in a male-dominated workplace. For women to have to overcome the social stigma of being a working woman combined with the social stigma of being a cab driver may just be too much to ask for.
Attrition
For a company to spend time and money training women drivers, and to hear that one out of every five women drivers drop out, is not encouraging. Maybe that is one of the reasons why Ola and Uber have not taken up serious strategies to encourage women cab drivers.
Lack of vision
The main problem in India is the conflict in the vision of cab companies and women entrepreneurs. Cab companies aim to run a successful and profitable company, and women entrepreneurs strive for uplifting women, particularly indigenous women. While both those objectives are good in themselves, there is no solution till date as to how to marry them under one roof.
Recently, Ola Cabs launched a pink button option in Bengaluru, which would give users the option of asking for a woman driver. However, the company says that this is a beta test, and will not comment on how many female drivers they have hired. Uber, in response to criticism, teamed up with twenty female cab drivers in Mumbai.
Also Read: Ola and Uber: Do you hear the government?
Here are some reasons why Ola and Uber should invest in hiring more women drivers:
Safety for women passengers
Given the number of cases that have been filed for female harassment, especially in Uber, and given the fact that Uber’s screening tests aren’t exactly up to the mark, women passengers feel unsafe in using Ola and Uber alone, especially late at night. Women drivers would make women passengers feel much safer, and would obviously improve Ola and Uber’s public image and profits.
Women empowerment
Recently, in a joint press release by Uber and UN Women, Uber mentioned that they wanted to work for women empowerment in local communities. Ola has been taking steps to partner with female drivers in certain cities. This helps increase the employment rate, particularly for underprivileged women who are looking for a way out and startups like these can play a big role in empowering women.
Changing social attitudes in India
Ola and Uber should take advantage of the change in social attitudes in India, where now women feel that they should earn their own living alongside the men. An untapped potential lays in the field of women drivers, particularly drivers from the indigenous and underprivileged communities. Ola and Uber should take this opportunity.
Apologizing for past incidents
There have been incidents before in India where women have been harassed in cabs of companies like Ola and Uber. Several kinds of malpractices and harassment of women have put the survival of Uber and Ola into question. Increasing the number of female drivers will be a sort of apology for those incidents and an assurance that Ola and Uber are doing their best to be rid of such atrocities.
Despite the issue of female drivers, Ola and Uber have really changed the face of the ride-sharing industry in metropolitan India. However, it is where they will go from here that is the big question. Will they implement community outreach programmes to diversify their available drivers, which is a very useful thing in a diverse nation like India? Will they implement female driver integration policies in their systems? One can only hope.
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