Uber Pakistan General Manager (GM) Saad Naveed Pall in a virtual conversation with The Nation, discussed the changing mobility trends in Pakistan, the kind of impact they have had on ride-hailing, and what can we look forward to in the coming year, hopefully in post-COVID-19.
Saad Pall has been affiliated with Uber Pakistan for three years, and his journey at the multinational tech company has been full of learning opportunities. Talking about the ongoing global pandemic and its overall impact on ride-hailing, Saad said, “This year and its happenings have been unprecedented from the very beginning and none of us expected the kind of impact it had, not just on mobility, but on every aspect of our lives. On a broader level, our macroeconomic environment has changed, and so have consumer’s behaviour and related technologies. Given the circumstances, one thing that Uber has learnt in Pakistan is that we need to be very nimble and quick with adopting new technology to match the changing trends.”
For example, when Pakistan went under lockdown at the beginning of this year, and there were limited mobility options that were functioning, Uber proactively launched Uber Medics, an initiative designed specifically to provide frontline healthcare workers with discounted and free rides. It eventually benefitted more than 50,000 individuals and involved 12 different organisations. “Similarly, once we realised that people were spending more time at home and needed assistance getting everyday groceries and medicines, we were quick to launch Uber Delivery, which my team accomplished within seven working days. On the whole, while ride-hailing did get impacted by the pandemic, we have managed to adapt our model to the varying demands and have also been seeing an increase in the volume of our business now,” he added.
Talking about how Uber is moving ahead using technology to tackle the changing mobility needs, Saad Pall revealed to The Nation of the upcoming launch of a new service called Uber Connect in Pakistan, “Uber Connect is a service that helps you send and receive packages, from one customer to another. Its customized features would make it convenient for customers to track their packages live as well. This is the new face of Uber Delivery in Pakistan, and Pakistan is one of the first countries in this region to introduce Uber Connect, as a response to dynamic consumer needs.”
Not just this, but Uber has also altered their policies and features in the mobile app to ensure maximum safety for both its riders and partner drivers as well. “At Uber, we believe safety to be one of our key priorities, and hence, we are constantly using our technological expertise to innovate in that aspect. Among other initiatives, we have significantly invested in PPEs for our partner drivers, that include masks, sanitizers, wipes, and also car partition sheets separating riders from the drivers to make the ride safer for both. They both also have the flexibility to cancel a ride in case the rider or the driver is not wearing a mask, without incurring any cancellation penalty. Furthermore, we are using facial recognition technology to verify if the drivers are wearing a mask or not,” said Saad Pall.
Talking about other players in the Pakistani market who are involved in similar services, Saad responded, “Pakistan is a country of close to 200 million people, and even with all of the key players combined, the ride-hailing industry still poses as a massive opportunity in the country. It offers enough room for all the players to grow and thrive, and that is what we have witnessed during the pandemic as well, with the way ride recovery occurred and the success of Uber Delivery.”
While ride-hailing has picked up again as restrictions started easing up, there is however a second wave of Covid-19 rampant in Pakistan, which poses the risk of another lockdown in the country. Talking about how this might impact the business, Saad commented, “Right now we are experiencing a prominent recovery in the number of rides, especially in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad. There is uncertainty in where the pandemic is headed, and in case of another lockdown, we will continue to offer emergency services with Uber Medics and focus on areas like Delivery to make sure our customers are facilitated. What we do know is that even in case of another lockdown, the number of trips and business in general always bounces back whenever the restrictions are lifted again. Safety is our key priority at all times.”
On the subject of safety, we also inquired the GM Uber Pakistan about the recent rise in female harassment cases in Pakistan, and what measures the company is taking to ensure female safety, “We have invested a lot of time and resources to make sure we have the right processes and policies at Uber, as well as adequate features, to ensure the safety of all riders and drivers. We have driver profiles that a customer can see when they book a ride. The ‘Trusted Contacts’ feature on the app enables you to share your Uber ride details with your friends, who will be able to live track your location. We also have a safety central within the app - a blue icon - that contains all the information on insurance, safety tips, and an emergency button. This emergency button automatically connects you to the local police when tapped on. Additionally, we have periodic driver trainings that we do in partnership with different law enforcement agencies and other organizations like the Kashf Foundation. These trainings are not just limited to driving and traffic rules, but also focus on social norms and appropriate behaviours.”
While concluding Saad said, “It has been a challenging time for many of us, and we have tried our best to facilitate not just our customers with new features and policies, but also our partner drivers with incentives like Uber Pro, financial assistance and insurance policies, and additional earning opportunities with Uber Delivery and Uber by the Hour. We are hoping that the worst of the pandemic is now behind us, and are looking towards safely moving forward and evolving in the new normal.”