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As public transport in Bangladesh is not adequate, there is scope for the ridesharing services to grow further, Quazi Zulquarnain, lead, Uber Bangladesh, tells Dhaka Tribune in an interview with Ahmed Shawki
How is Uber doing in the country?
It has been a very successful journey so far. We started two and a half years back with only one product offer — UberX; now we have expanded our services to three cities – Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet. Currently, we have six services UberX, XL, Uber Premier, Uber MOTO, Uber Hire and Uber Intercity. Every day, we see more and more riders rely on Uber for their daily commute. We cannot give the exact number of trips and riders currently on the app. But we have more than 100,000 driver partners, nearly 2,500 weekly sign-ups to drive on Uber. Bangladesh is expected to contribute 25% of Uber’s growth in the region in 2019. That is remarkable for any company. It’s a market where there is still enough scope for growth as the public transport is not yet adequate for people.
How do you think Uber is serving the economy?
Uber is serving people’s need to travel and that itself explains how we are contributing to the economy. In other developed markets, where almost everyone owns a car, it’s an optional earning but in markets like Bangladesh and India, people take it as a core earning source. So both directly and indirectly we are contributing to the economy.
How is the company impacting society?
Before Uber launched in the country, the idea of getting into a car of an stranger was unimaginable. But Uber has changed that social landscape completely. Even females now feel comfortable to call up a ride. Uber always gives priority to safety and security, which has helped us gain trust of our users.
Also this month, we are running safety campaign for both our users and the drivers to create social awareness about road safety. We are providing helmets for our motorcycle drivers. Also we are offering free eye checkup for the drivers and discounted price for their eye glasses if needed. For our users we run road safety training workshop. Also, we provide push notification for the users to check if the registration number and driver’s name match before starting the ride. So you can clearly see our efforts at the social level.
What are your current safety features for riders and driver partners?
Safety is a shared responsibility. At Uber we try to bring innovative ways through technology to make our service as safe as possible. We have “Safety Toolkit” – a consolidated and comprehensive set of in-app features for both riders and driver-partners in Bangladesh. For riders the toolkit enables sharing trip up to five loved ones, access national emergency 999 service. Drivers’ safety toolkit also enables them to use share trip and emergency button. The toolkit also alerts them if the vehicles exceed the speed limit. Both rider and driver can claim insurance protection in case of any accident.
How would you describe diversification of the company?
As a company we are very diversified as now we have started food delivery service along with ride sharing. To enhance user-friendliness, we have launched a lighter version of our app. We have observed that a huge number of people use low-end smartphone. These users might face difficulty using the heavy app. To address that issue, we have launched Uberlite, which needs less space and memory.
Do you think ride sharing services have added to traffic jam?
Actually, it is the opposite. The growth rate of new car registration has reduced after the launch of Uber. In 2012-17, the registration rate was high than it is in 2018-19. Also, previously, one car was used by one person and family. Now it is used by multiple users which made the cars more efficient in use. There may not be any visible effect on traffic reduction, ride sharing in the long run will help address the problem.
Do you think metro rail and other public transport project will affect Uber?
Absolutely not. In developed market where the public transport system is at its best, we are doing business successfully there.
How do you see the competition among local ride sharing services?
I find it very healthy. We have competitors but the market is big enough for growth. The more option people will have, the more beneficial it will be for them. The competition pushes us to do better and add more value to our services so that the customers prefer our service to others.
(DT)
