Uber starts disbursing money to drivers from Rs 25 cr dedicated corpus

Firm also plans to roll out hospital cash insurance for its drivers, covering Covid-19 and other illnesses requiring hospitalisation for up to 14 days

Uber said on Thursday that the driver partners on its platform have begun receiving the first batch of grants from a Rs 25 crore Uber Care Driver Fund, created in partnership with social enterprises Give India and Samhita.

Uber aims to raise an additional Rs 25 crore to reach a combined target of Rs 50 crore, through contributions from its employees, riders, corporate social responsibility funds and citizens through a partnership with crowdfunding organisation Milaap, to look after the welfare and wellbeing of driver partners on its platform.

"This is a crisis nobody has ever seen or knows how to react to," said  Pradeep Parameswaran, President, Uber India and South Asia. "Through the Uber Care Driver Fund we aim to provide a direct grant, not a loan, directly deposited into the bank accounts of our driver partners. The first set of transfers have already been made and within the next week, we expected the fund will be fully deployed," he added.

So far, Uber employees have already contributed Rs 17 lakh to the fund. Besides all other driver partners, the fund will also disburse grants to UberMedic, Uber Essential and Uber’s last-mile delivery service drivers, who have recently been transporting frontline workers, providing essential rides to the elderly and moving everyday supplies to thousands of homes for helping contain the spread of Covid-19 across India.

While he did not disclose the amount transferred per driver partner, he said the amount is enough to help a family of five buy essentials for a month.

Making an appeal Uber riders, corporate partners, philanthropists as well as the general public to support Uber's efforts, Parameswaran said a rider facing fund raising campaign will begin on the app in partnership with Milaap from Thursday.

Over the next few days, Uber will also be rolling out hospital cash insurance for its driver partners. The plan would cover Covid-19 and other illnesses which require hospitalisation for up to 14 days.