These days, nearly half the traffic on city roads is accounted for by
Ola, Uber, Zomato, Swiggy, Food Panda etc. delivery people (although,
these exploited lot are invariably men, I call them 'people' and not
'boys', to suppress the fact that there are myriad ways other than
gender in which members of the society are exploited, and these
contribute as strongly as gender, if not more strongly, to the unfair
society we have built. But heck, let me not digress!).
The management of
these companies seem to incentivise quick service. I don't know if they
do so by rewarding larger number of services in less time, or
penalising delays. But for sure they have some such mechanism. And
therefore, these organisations can't just turn their eyes away from the
fact that their drivers and delivery people drive very rashly, break
traffic rules left and right, and make the road a dangerous place to
venture out to for others and themselves.
I won't do the due diligence, and will assume that these companies are
founded and run by some young entrepreneurs who are respected and proud
for their good academic/professional pedigree. They must be going around
giving talks and interviews about work ethic, good organisation
culture, entrepreneurial instincts, sustainability and 'giving it back
to the society'. I think, they should stop being hypocrites and look
squarely at the unfairness and exploitation their ventures are built on.
This system considers its drivers and delivery people as cannon
fodders.
I don't want to send anyone on a guilt trip, but
consumers of these services, who don't think twice before calling a taxi
or ordering a meal, should also pause and reflect for a moment on what
role they have to play in this game of exploitation.
The big
people who are running these companies should take it upon themselves to
see what they can do to make it possible for taxi drivers and delivery
people to drive safely. If possible, this mechanism shouldn't all be
technology driven surveillance systems cracking down on violations, but
should be based on basic humanitarianism.
Here's a few simple questions:
- Can you institute a reward for drivers or deliver boys who drive safely?
- Can you absorb the losses caused due to delays (traffic, kitchen) which are not in the hands of your drivers or delivery people?
3 comments:
Sujit, using technology will be the easiest way to track whether drivers are driving safely or not.
It seems, however, you are more inclined towards using a non-technological-humanitarian approach. Can you elaborate on this a bit? Technology, by itself, is neither humanitarian nor non-humanitarian. How we humans process the output created by technology, is the key.
Sambaran. You are right. I would prefer a solution which is not merely based on technology to prevent the delivery boys/drivers from speeding. This would be effective but another lack of empathy shown towards the fact that their disregard for traffic rules doesn't emerge out of thin air. They are tempted toward it by the very business model. Hence, it's in the hands of the CXOs of these companies to also alter their business model which is so centred around quick delivery time, and completely disregards what it does to the poor drivers.
1. Technology will help decide 'safe driving' during a delivery. It can track maximum speed, whether rode on foot-path, etc. Use AI and GPS data to the hilt here.
2. Technology will also decide time-taken-to-deliver (this is done even today).
If a driver violates#1, he will not be considered for any incentives. Incentive shall be for fastest drivers after eliminating the #1 offenders. So the message shall be "safety first, speed later".
Maybe you can trigger a project with your students in implementing #1.
I think, more than the entrepreneur, it is customer-expectation that is a tricky issue. We customers will not value a supplier who ensures safe driving but late-delivery as a result. Maybe sensitizing a customer about the late-delivery is the way to go.
Post a Comment