Last year, Uber soft launched a new driver benefit program in a pilot stage. The program, called Uber Care, was meant to provide driver partners with small ticket financial services such as micro insurance, fuel credits, micro loans etc. at minimal interest rates. Almost an year post launch, we finally have some official numbers on the program, and they look fairly good.
In an announcement today, Uber revealed that its Uber Care program benefited over 90,000 driver partners in India. The total loan amount disbursed under the program equals $5 million (INR 35.6 crore). The top 5 cities where the maximum number of drivers were impacted are Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Pune.
In terms of fuel credits for its driver partners, Uber partnered with state-owned Indian Oil Corporation Limited. Through this partnership, the company facilitated close to $5.2 million (INR 38.7 crore) worth of fuel credits, directly benefiting thousands of drivers associated with the platform. Similarly, through Uber Kifayat, 34,000 car servicing packages have been facilitated resulting in overall savings worth $150K (INR 95 lakhs).
Pavan Vaish, Head of Central Operations at Uber India said, “Through our driver welfare arm, Uber Care, we have been successful in supporting and empowering thousands of drivers with improved access to life and health insurance, financial support, children’s education, and medical consultations. As we move ahead, we envision further strengthening access and impact of Uber Care, thereby enhancing drivers’ overall well being on and off the road,”
Apart from direct financial benefits, there have been significant health-related benefits provided to drivers as well. Uber recently partnered with DocsApp under Uber Care to facilitate free doctor consultations, subsidised prescription medicines, and lab tests for drivers on its platform. Till date, about 92,000 drivers have signed up with DocsApp. The adoption has been rapid, with the company now seeing over 1000 consultations happening on a weekly basis through this partnership.
The company also became among the first private companies to directly associate with India’s Central government healthcare scheme called Ayushman Bharat. As a part of this partnership, Uber set up Common Service Centres (CSC’s) at Partner Seva Kendras across India, and CSC’s Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) at these centres help verify eligibility and issue e-cards to drivers for the Ayushman Bharat Scheme.
