Chinese ride-hailing behemoth Didi Chuxing announced its move to beef up its safety measures and improving its customer service after the company went under fire following a string of recent killings involving two of its female passengers.
The carpool service provider said on Tuesday that it will now put the focus on upgrading the emergency function button on its mobile app as part of the company's continuing efforts to provide more safety features for its passengers, the report from the Wall Street Journal said.
The panic button will reportedly offer customers the ease and convenience of reporting unwarranted incidents directly to the police. Aside from this, it was indicated in a CNN report that the functionality can also link passengers to a specified member of their family or friends during an emergency.
Moreover, Didi Chuxing will soon start testing an upcoming audio recording function on its Express and Premier services.
In a statement released by the transport firm, this audio feature could be a great help not only in protecting the passengers but also the welfare of drivers. The security function boasts audio data encryption and top of the line storage protection protocol.
Meanwhile, the report from South China Morning Post said that Didi is also looking to expand its in-house customer service by adding 3,000 more operators to its existing number of 5,000 operators nationwide.
The aim is in line with the company's goal to better serve and reach for their clients with zero percent downtime rate as possible. In August, Didi reported handling an average of 2.12 million incoming calls per day. Majority of the call processes were handled by chatbots.
Scaling Up the Efforts
This major overhaul in the company's security and customer service features comes in the wake of killing incidents committed by Didi drivers.
As cited in a previous report from this site, the ride-hail firm ordered the suspension of its subsidiary carpool service, Hitch, following the reported death of a woman in eastern China.
According to the details provided by the Wenzhou police, a 27-year-old driver known only by the name of Zhong picked up a female passenger later identified by the surname of Zhao one early morning. The latter's body was soon found dead. Subsequent investigations indicated evidence of rape committed to the victim by the suspect.
Zhong was later detained by the local police. The accused has no criminal record prior to the incident and had duly provided clearances and security documentation before joining Didi's fleet.
