It’s a sign of the times. When a service becomes almost indispensable to the lives of people in modern societies, along come its issues. Uber has gone from a cab service to a lifestyle, and the company has to come up with certain community guidelines to ensure a good user and driver experience.
Uber users have in the past been accused and convicted of sexual misconduct and harassment, while some drivers themselves have complained of being sexually harassed. In a story shared by a female Uber driver in the US, she recollected being propositioned by a passenger and being ‘left a $50 in her lap’ with a note to ‘come chill with me after the ride’.
In the light of these events, Uber’s updated its rider guidelines in the US. Amongst all the rules, physical contact with co-passengers in case of Uber pool or with the driver is one. “As our community guidelines make clear, you shouldn’t touch or flirt with other people in the car. As a reminder, Uber has a no sex rule. That’s no sexual conduct with drivers or fellow riders, no matter what. And you should never hit or otherwise hurt a driver or fellow passenger.”, says the full text of the rule.
Damage of property, abusive language, violence and nonpayment of bills are some of the other rules.
Flouting these guidelines can get a user’s account suspended or permanently banned.
Uber India on the other hand has openly promoted its Uber Pool offering with a set of humorous ads one of which shows a mother playing matchmaker in a shared Uber ride.
So while Uber India may promote the idea of matchmaking in an Uber pool, or the users may joke about Uber Pool serving as Tinder-on-the-go, Uber US would like to discourage you from the same.