Uber announced in a blog post Thursday that it will add a panic button to its app in India to address safety concerns involving the ride-sharing service.
A passenger in New Delhi filed a complaint about an Uber cab driver who raped her in December, which triggered the San Francisco-based company and competitors to introduce new safety measures with local authorities, according to The International Business Times. The company had also recently been reported to have been banned in the Indian city of Mumbai.
The panic button will debut on Feb. 11, along with a "Safety Net" feature that will let passengers share their routes and expected time of arrival in real-time with up to five people and save them as emergency contacts on the app.
While Mumbai has been pushing Uber to install physical panic buttons in its drivers' cars, the company proposed that each car should instead have a single panic button, TechCrunch reported. The company's argument was that most of its drivers use more than one taxi app service, and since each button is connected to a single service, each car would need multiple physical panic buttons.
"In a situation of distress the ride would have to pick the correct operator's panic button to be able to get help on time. [In a car that works with India's four top taxi app services] that's 25 percent chance of success; and a decision that has to be made and executed in a split-second, if at all," Uber wrote in the blog post.
The company said India will be the first spot to receive the panic button and Safety Net and plans on bringing these features to its app in other countries around the world, TechCrunch reported.
The announcement follows a month after Uber brought its services back to New Delhi, agreeing to offer rides under a non-profit model in the city until it receives its mandatory radio license.
The panic button and Safety Net are Uber's latest tools for expanding its service to the rest of Asia, IBT reported. The company has several local services to contend with, such as India's Ola Cabs, China's KuaiDi and Malaysia's GrabTaxi.
