Ride-hailing app Uber India said on Thursday it had raised fares over the past few weeks to cushion the impact of rising fuel prices in many Indian cities. The company said it has been working to make Uber a viable and attractive option for drivers, adding that “recent fare increases will directly boost their earnings per trip.”

“Rising fuel prices are affecting everyone, especially ride-sharing drivers who are feeling the pressure of rising fuel costs,” the company said in a statement. The company announced a slew of new product features to improve the rider and driver experience.

It explained that the inaugural Uber Driver Advisory Council met in March, and the committee’s driver members raised this as a key issue. “We have increased Uber fares over the past few weeks to mitigate the impact of higher fuel prices in many Indian cities,” the statement said.

Uber also said it will now show drivers where to travel before they decide to accept a ride, so they can make an informed choice. Uber said in a statement that the scheduled destination feature is already live in 20 cities and will expand to all other cities. The move is significant as the government recently warned taxi aggregators including Ola and Uber to take drastic measures unless they improve their systems and correct a growing number of consumer complaints.

The government held a meeting with ride-hailing platforms on May 10 after consumers complained about what they called unfair trade practices, including the cancellation of ride-hailing policies, as drivers sometimes force customers to cancel trips after accepting reservations. cause the customer to pay a cancellation fee.

The government has made it clear that taxi aggregators will have “zero tolerance for such misconduct”. It is suggested that online car-hailing platforms should give top priority to consumer complaints and take remedial measures to ensure that consumers’ rights and interests are fully protected. On Thursday, Uber said it “introduced new measures to address issues such as cancelling rides, drivers not turning on the air conditioner during rides, or refusing to accept online payments.”

These initiatives include enabling drivers to make informed choices based on travel destination information. “We understand how you feel when a driver calls and asks a horrible question: ‘Jana Kahan Hai’ (where do you have to go) and then cancels the ride,” Uber said.

To eliminate frustration for riders and drivers, Uber said it will now show drivers where to travel before they decide to accept a ride. “We’re working hard to incentivize the right platform behaviour – drivers who meet the acceptance threshold for booking a trip will be eligible for destination information so they can make an informed choice. Booking is already live in 20 cities and will expand to all others, ‘” it said in a statement.

Uber said it believes the changes will be welcomed by drivers and, in turn, provide a better experience for riders. It said that in addition to driver notification and training, repeated passenger complaints about these elements of service quality could result in penalties or even restricted app access.

Uber said the issues involved were complex and “there is no silver bullet” and pledged to “listen to riders and drivers.” Uber acknowledged that drivers “understandably” dislike driving to pick up passengers, and said that to address the situation, it provides drivers with extra income in case they have to travel long distances to pick up passengers.

“This will enable drivers to travel more comfortably and benefit passengers as travel reliability increases. Drivers will be able to see earnings for long-distance transfers, shown separately on fare receipts,” Uber said. Because drivers need more flexibility when it comes to paying, Uber now shows drivers how to pay (cash or online) before they travel.

“This enables drivers to opt for cash-only rides when needed,” Uber said. “To make cash or online decisions irrelevant, we are now introducing a daily payment process for drivers.” This will ensure that travel earnings from Monday to Thursday are credited to the driver the next day, while earnings from Friday to Sunday are credited on Monday.

“At Uber, our goal is to provide drivers and riders with a safe and secure platform, and any substandard experience is unacceptable to us,” said Nitish Bhushan, Director of Operations, Uber India.

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Bhushan added that new product features such as upfront destinations, long-term transfer fees, daily payments and cash metrics and the recent fare increase should address reliability and quality of service issues more holistically while improving passengers and the overall experience of the driver.