Rapists beware: Uber introduces Panic button feature

Uber, the dial-a-car application ran into trouble when a taxi driver contacted through Uber allegedly raped the passenger in New Delhi.

The service faced a temporary ban in the province, and it garnered mixed reactions from various corners.

The mobile application now faces threat of ban in the state of Maharashtra, and this has compelled the makers to introduce a new feature which will help the passengers to contact the Police in case of any emergency.

Uber india

Recently, the company said in a blog post that the application will soon feature a Panic button which will alert the Police in case the ride goes awry.

The new feature will go live from February 11, 2015. The application will also offer a safety net feature for the passengers. Through this feature, the passenger can share his location details to five other people.

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The new move of Uber makers comes soon after the report of Times of India which stated that the Maharashtra State Government is planning to ban the application soon.

As per Uber, it has submitted the database of drivers who work under them to the transit department and traffic police.

This will help the law authorities to screen out people who have criminal history. The company is also conducting a thorough background check through First Advantage, an International Screening firm.

Earlier, it was suggested that installing a Panic Button in cabs will put an end to the security issues. But Uber claimed that it is not practically possible to install physical buttons in the cab, and they suggested that a software button will do the trick.

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By amending the new features, Uber is now getting ready to compete with the new car hire service which will be introduced by Google in the near future.

About Nirmal Narayanan 186 Articles
A journalist with over six years of experience in Digital Media specialized in writing stories on science and entertainment. A post-graduate in English Literature, I spend my free time researching paranormal incidents and UFO sightings that happen all across the globe