Uber comes to housebound metropolis dwellers’ rescue since it brings in car rentals
Making your way around Dhaka city, these days, has become tiny plight for many who were reliant on the chauffeurs to drive them around.
For fear of contagion, various households have packed their chauffeurs off with their villages within the last week of March, when the federal government had enforced countrywide shutdown with the view to flattening the curve on coronavirus.
The shutdown has been lifted however the state of contagion remains more heightened than previously, meaning many of those households remain without their chauffeurs and completely housebound, regardless if it is not by choice always.
Against such a backdrop, global ridesharing giant Uber yesterday introduced on-demand local rental service to focus on the city's residents who have been struggling to have a safe ride.
Uber Rentals, the to begin a sort launched by any ridesharing organization in Bangladesh, claims to provide a personalised experience to passengers, allowing them to book a good car and its own driver for many hours at a stretch and try to make multiple stops on a good journey.
"As Dhaka reopens, quite a few riders could have new use conditions and various needs from Uber, one of which is keeping their Uber with them for an extended duration in your day," said Ratul Ghosh, mind of Bangladesh and East India, Uber, found in a statement.
Uber Rentals suits such a want by allowing users to book their Uber for multiple time with flexible and affordable plans and in addition gives them the choice to create multiple stops on their journey, he said.
Starting value of the service is certainly Tk 899 for a two-hour and 20 kilometre-package. Riders could have the option of selecting from multiple hourly deals which can be booked for no more than 10 hours.
Rides would conform to health guidelines and offer optimum safety standards, Ghosh said. "For our drivers, this gives them yet another possibility to gain on the program," he added.
Before Uber, another ride-hailing platform, Obhai, introduced such a rental service in later April called Obhai Sheba.
The emergency transport service aims to cater to patients, doctors, nurses and health officials who are failing woefully to reach hospitals timely because of too little safe method of transportation under current circumstances.
To avail Uber's new service, customers need to select "Uber Rentals" for outings on the app. They will need to select an hourly bundle -- from two hours to 10 time -- and tap "Confirm Uber Rentals" to request the ride.
Over the past couple of weeks, Uber has launched safety measures and have distributed safeness kits comprising masks, hand sanitisers, soap bars and tissue paper with their driver-companions along with placing basic safety placards in cars to create awareness among riders.
Last month, Uber spearheaded the forming of a "Transport Security Alliance" to create safety awareness between consumers and also to equip drivers with health and safety supplies.
After a three-month-much time suspension of operations as a result of coronavirus, Uber has resumed services with "Uber X", an on-demand car service, in Dhaka the other day after a hectic struggle with Bangladesh Road Transportation Authority (BRTA) over enlisting vehicles beneath the authority.
Although highway transport services have already been allowed across the country on June 1 after an over two-month suspension due to coronavirus, the ridesharing platforms weren't permitted to resume their services due to the enlistment issue.
Ride-hailing companies, including Uber and Pathao, wrote to the BRTA, requesting it so they can resume operations.
The BRTA, however, didn't accept their request and instead took a difficult series on vehicles that had been providing service without being enlisted.
Enlistment with the BRTA is a necessity for both firms and their automobiles to provide ride-sharing services.
Uber Bangladesh has sought intervention from the Primary Minister's Office in order to resume functions in Dhaka and different cities.
Road Transport and Highway Division Secretary Nazrul Islam, BRTA's performing chairman and officials from Uber Bangladesh, amongst others, took part in an online meeting with Principal Secretary to the Primary Minister Ahmad Kaikaus over the issue.
The very next day, the BRTA allowed the ridesharing companies to resume their service only with 255 vehicles.
Down the road July 1, the regulatory body made a decision to allow a complete 1,890 vehicles, microbuses and ambulances associated with various ridesharing solutions to resume functions, according to a good BRTA notice.
Of the permitted automobiles, Uber topped the list with 1,657. No other company has more than 100 vehicles enlisted at present, based on the notice issued on July 1.
Another significant platform, Pathao, likewise resumed its car service last week. Pathao has collaborated with the e-commerce Association of Bangladesh (eCAB) to build up and implement basic safety protocols.
The BRTA, however, has not allowed any platform to resume operations of their popular motorcycle service saying that social distancing is impossible in this mode of transportation.
To handle the ever-changing circumstances created by the virus, Uber has been seen reversing its strategies.
The company closed straight down its food delivery service Uber Eats in Bangladesh in June.
The San Francisco-based tech giant, in the center of June, rolled out of its new service Uber Connect, which would enable residents in Dhaka to receive and send parcels from the other person and in addition order items from shops within city limits.
