Now, driver selfie proof to prevent proxy driving: Ola

To prevent proxy drivers from driving cabs and raising safety concerns of passengers, especially women, cab aggregator Ola has kick-started a driver selfie authentication process.

Select drivers, who have bad ratings and negative feedback in the profiling done by Ola, will be asked randomly to upload their real-time selfies on their respective drivers’
app. The system will compare it with the photograph of the registered driver before the ride continues, said Ola sources.

After a spate of conflicts of late between passengers and drivers, the aggregator is working on making passenger safety a priority, while weeding out a few bad drivers against whom it is lodging complaints.

Ola has filed a police complaint against one of its registered driver partners, Vishal Pareek, for letting a proxy driver ferry passengers. The proxy driver, identified as Mahadev, is accused of misbehaving with a 22-year-old woman student when she objected to a waiting charge on July 10.

“If there are over two million rides per day, we would not be able to ask for selfies from every driver for his every ride. We have done driver profiling based on the feedback and ratings on drivers given to us by customers.

The drivers who have fewer ratings and negative feedback will be frequently asked to send selfies to check if they are registered drivers or someone else is driving in their login,” said an Ola source.

Besides, the Ola staff at the kiosk at the airport, railway stations and metros will conduct surprise checks on drivers to ensure only registered driver partners are on the
job.

The aggregator’s system will also monitor the route taken by the cab with the passenger going towards the airport or from the airport
towards the city via the toll booth. If the cab takes a detour, Ola will immediately contact the passenger and ask if the detour was taken with his or her consent.

If the detour has been taken without the passenger’s consent, then Ola will order its driver to go back on the regular route. If he does not heed, Ola will inform the police and engage with the passenger to ensure his or her safety, the sources added.