Uber Malaysia kicked off its 3-month Driver Forward campaign today – a sustained initiative grounded in Uber’s commitment to elevate the experience of driver partners by introducing meaningful changes and initiatives. The campaign, based on the three pillars of Support, Flexibility and Earnings, derives its key focus areas from feedback obtained by the Uber team, which has been listening and talking to driver partners over the past several months.
The Support pillar focuses on improving customer support for driver partners; the Earnings pillar seeks to enhance their ability to earn; while the Flexibility pillar aims to make it easier for them to balance driving with Uber with their personal priorities and timing.
Commenting on the launch, Karina Ali Noor, General Manager, Expansion, Uber Malaysia said, “Driver partners have told us we need to do better. We have listened and are excited to announce our Driver Forward initiative, which is the outcome of our efforts to find out how we can best improve to make driving better for driver partners. They play an instrumental role in Uber’s continued growth here in Malaysia and we look forward to earning their continued confidence in us.”
To kick off the first Driver Forward pillar, to improve support, Uber announced its new Greenlight Hub (“GLH”), a support centre in Petaling Jaya for driver-partners. At 4,600 square feet (460m²), it is twice the size of the previous facility and will be able to serve up to 1,000 driver partners per week, including walk-ins by driver partners who require assistance. The hub features a briefing room that will be used for introduction sessions for new driver partners and driver-focused learning initiatives, besides also serving as a home base for the Uber driver partner community and the venue for community events. The hub will also feature space for partner vendors to share information on their services and offerings.
“Our new Greenlight Hub for driver-partners is an investment that clearly demonstrates our long-term commitment to supporting driver-partners and growing our business in Malaysia. With this bigger and more conducive location, we will be able to cater to more driver-partners who require face-to-face support. This is only one of the many things we hope to do as we roll out more support for driver partners, and in turn strengthen the ridesharing ecosystem in Malaysia.”
The new hub at the Axis Business campus in Petaling Jaya operates from 10.00am to 7.00pm on Monday through Friday and 10.00am to 5.00pm on Saturdays. It is closed on Sundays and public holidays.
Besides the new GLH, Uber also announced a slew of other customer support updates, policy improvements, and product enhancements under the first pillar of Support. These include the following, which are now available to 100% of Uber’s driver partners:
- Bahasa Malaysia language support – This will be added to our 24/7 phone support channel for driver-partners. Now, when they call the hotline, they have the option to choose to between English and BM speaking agents.
- Cleaning Fees – Driver-partners will be given a RM20 compensation if they choose to clean their vehicles on their own, and will not be required to present a receipt. We are also improving cleaning fee policies so that compensation amounts are based on severity of stains or amount of cleaning required.
- Coloured Cars – The colour of the driver-partner’s car icon in the app will reflect the actual colour of their car, which riders can see from from within the app itself on the map. This helps improve the pickup experience – when riders and drivers can easily find each other, we’re able to trim down wait times, which is a win for everyone!
- Driver Share My Trip – Similar to the feature for riders, driver-partners can now share a live map of their location, trip status and related information with up to 5 pre-selected contacts while they’re online.
- Connect with guest riders – When riders request rides for friends and family, drivers will see the name of the person they will be picking up and will be able to contact them, if needed. The guest rider will receive an SMS with the driver’s name, ETA, car type, license plate and contact info.
- Ratings reminder & clearer feedback – Riders will be prompted with a ratings card in their app to rate their previous trip. When riders complete a trip, they also receive a notification to rate the recently completed trip as well. Riders will also be required to provide feedback on all trips rated 4 stars or below, so drivers will receive pro tips on how to provide the best service possible.
In the upcoming months, Uber will be introducing a comprehensive set of initiatives and changes aimed at improving the experience of driver partners, particularly initiatives under the second pillar of Earnings and the third pillar of Flexibility.
