Uber to distribute 1.6 million face masks in NSW and Victoria
Uber will hand out 1.6 million free face masks in the Australian states hit hardest by coronavirus, before a possible expansion of its ‘no mask, no ride’ policy.
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Exclusive: Ride-sharing giant Uber will offer hundreds of thousands of free face masks to drivers across New South Wales today as part of a commitment to distribute 1.6 million free masks in the Australian states hit hardest in the coronavirus pandemic.
The public health initiative follows a similar move by Uber in Melbourne before the city was locked down, though Sydney Uber drivers will not yet have to take a “mask selfie” to prove they are wearing the face covering.
And while masks are currently only “recommended” for NSW Uber drivers, the company has made provisions to suspend the accounts of drivers who don’t abide by future “no mask, no ride” requirements.
The offer of a free pack of single-use face masks will appear in the Uber driver app for NSW users today, in what product management senior director Sachin Kansal told News Corp was part of a $69 million investment in personal protective equipment and cleaning products for its drivers.
Mr Kansal said Uber developed the plan during April and May, when official advice from the World Health Organisation and US Centres for Disease Control changed on masks, and feedback from workers and users indicated they wanted masks used to slow the spread of COVID-19.
“Riders were telling us that drivers should wear masks, drivers were telling us that riders should wear masks, and the riders were also saying other riders should be required to wear masks as well, which was fascinating,” he said.
“They said they would like to make sure that the rider that goes in the car before them was also wearing a mask.”
Uber then rolled out a mandatory “no mask, no ride” policy in some US states, he said, and later in Victoria after when State Government changed its laws.
Mr Kansal said Uber developers also created an artificially intelligent “mask selfie” verification feature in its app to ensure requirements were being met.
The addition scans a photo to confirm the driver is wearing an appropriate face covering, shares the information with potential riders, and can also detect those trying to cheat the system.
“There are several cases that we took into account, for example someone just putting a hand on their mouth, things like if someone just uses a picture of a picture … and we also had to make it flexible because we couldn’t just make it work for a surgical mask,” he said.
Mr Kansal said drivers or riders who were repeatedly reported for not wearing masks when required would have their accounts suspended.
Uber also made changes to a portal typically used by law enforcement agencies during the pandemic to allow verified public health authorities such as virus contact tracers access information about the movements of riders and drivers infected with coronavirus.
A spokeswoman said most applications for health information were “handled within two hours”.
Uber isn’t the only ride-sharing company to make changes during the coronavirus pandemic, however, with rival DiDi last week announcing it recommended the use of face masks by all drivers and riders in Sydney to help riders “feel more comfortable” with the service.
Ola also launched a “super-sanitised ride-share option” called Ola Pro that added a plastic barrier between riders and drivers, and Shebah provided drivers with hand sanitiser.
Originally published as Uber to distribute 1.6 million face masks in NSW and Victoria