Uber drivers will now have to click a selfie before accepting rides

Uber booking

Ride-hailing app Uber on Thursday launched a facial recognition ID approval system for drivers that will require them to take a selfie before accepting rides.

The move is to avoid duplication of driver details and to curb impersonation by unregistered drivers.

The features have been rolled out in cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, and Lucknow and will be rolled out to other cities too.

“At every step, we are maximising the usage of technology to bring transparency and accountability through several features, which we believe will have a positive impact on riders and driver partners,” Apurva Dalal, Head of Engineering, Uber India, added.

The IT backend for the ID validation of a driver has been designed to support even low-end feature phones.

When a driver takes a picture for validation, the specific features of the driver is extracted from the image, which is then matched to the image available in the records. All this happens in real-time at in the IT backhaul.

“We toyed with the idea of using voice recognition, gesture recognition, but realized that both are not suitable for an emerging market because smartphones don’t have 100 percent penetration. So we went ahead with face recognition because every phone has at least a camera,” Dalal said.

Many drivers in India take shifts to drive a cab 24x7 making it unsafe for passengers who don't know the details or ratings of the driver who is ferrying them.

Will insert IoT sensors in cabs

Uber is now also planning to insert IoT-based sensors in the cars to ensure real-time monitoring of the vehicle’s health.

It will gauge the engine condition, will alert on hard-breaking, and detect zig-zag movements to determine if the driver is rash.

“This is another aspect of safety. We want to make sure the car is in top condition. Data from sensors will help us do that,” Dalal added.

The company is also partnering with law enforcement agencies, NGOs, and the Government, at both city and country level, to ensure better safety.

Uber partnered with Delhi Police to allow quick access to Himmat - a women safety mobile app. It also joined hands with the top bars in town to fight against drunk driving.