The American VTC giant is launching its revolution in France. Since Thursday, Uber has been offering a new option to its customers: ordering a vehicle that will be driven by a woman. A feature already launched in the Czech Republic and Poland. The company seeks to achieve two objectives: to ensure “more security” for its clients and to feminize the profession.
With her company VTC Femmes Paris, Oumou Keita did not wait for the leader of the sector to start exclusively women’s races. This reception agent manager at Orly airport launched her concept in September 2022 via a reservation system on her website. Enough to gain perspective on Uber’s new functionality. “It’s positive to put this option in place. By doing this, Uber also wants to recover female customers who have deserted the application,” says the business manager. To encourage female drivers (around 5% of drivers) to use Uber by Women, the VTC company will reduce its commissions from 25% to 15%.
And while the waiting time could be extended by four to fifteen minutes, according to Uber, “the demand will be enormous and cannot be satisfied”, assures Oumou Keita, who adds: “there are around 1,500 women VTC in Paris region, this is not enough. Not all orders will be honored. »
“At least one traumatic experience”
The professional knows the overwhelming demand and has been confronted with it. To absorb it, she organized a WhatsApp group of around sixty drivers, to whom she delegates the races that she cannot honor in exchange for a commission. Being able to feel safe behind the wheel as well as in the back seat was his first motivation when starting out. “All clients, regardless of age, have had at least one traumatic experience. How many times have I been told: ”he closed the door”, ”he didn’t let me go”, ‘he changed direction”, explains Oumou Keita. When a woman is driven by a woman, you cannot know the good it does to her. »
Uber knows this and, as a safety measure, has indicated that its female drivers will be able to refuse to give a ride to a man who tries to divert the use of the option only offered to women. “In this case, this will not have an impact on the cancellation rate and there will be no fees,” indicated this Friday at 20 Minutes Rym Saker, communications director of Uber France.
And what about the feminization of the profession? The prospect of transporting only women can attract and also push female drivers to drive at night, our 36-year-old entrepreneur believes. “The women drivers in my group who use VTC applications usually stop at 9 p.m. Some told me they could start riding later. »
