Uber has started piloting its teenagers-focused Uber for Teens service in India, TechCrunch has exclusively learned.
Uber for Teens is live in Bengaluru, Delhi NCR and Mumbai, Uber confirmed to TechCrunch. The company said it would expand the service in the coming weeks to 35 cities, which include Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune.
The service lets parents and guardians set up accounts for their teenagers (between 13 and 17 of age) so they can request trips directly using their own devices. It also includes features like live trip tracking and opt-in audio recording.
Guardians can also book rides for teenagers, and they can also set monthly trip limits to restrict the number of trips. Uber requires guardians in India to add a credit or debit card to their account to invite a teenager to their family profile. Once added, guardians and teens can book rides using any payment method, including cash.
Teens can also bring riders aged between 13-17 with them, per the details available on a support page, but it is not clear how the consent mechanism for this will work.
Uber said it will also perform additional background checks on drivers.
The move comes nearly two years after the service was launched in the U.S. and Canada, as the ride-hailing app plans to grow in India and take on domestic rivals Ola, Rapido, Namma Yatri and BluSmart.
Uber for Teens is currently live in about 50 countries, according to the company’s Q4 results statement last month. The company has also introduced separate profiles for teenagers in some markets, letting them pay using their own payment methods and cash.
For the last few months, Uber has added several features like concurrent rides, flexible pricing, and prepaid item pickups to cater to Indians’ changing transportation needs. The company also recently ditched commissions on auto-rickshaw bookings, instead instituting a daily subscription charge.
