Tonsured Uber Driver Loses His Job: App Fail Vs Facts!

People go on pilgrimages hoping better tides would replace their troubles but when it worsens the condition, they become confused. Naredi Srikanth, a 4.67star rated Uber driver, landed in a similar situation when he lost his job after returning from Tirupati. Srikanth, who had been with Uber for one and a half years and completed 1,428 trips, was said to be blocked by the company after its app failed to recognise his face after he got tonsured.

Recently, Srikanth went to Tirupati and offered his hair to Lord Balaji. After returning, he was shocked to know that he could not log into his Uber partner app, as the algorithm could not identify a tonsured Srikanth and he lost his sole income source. The workers union said that Srikanth has been making rounds of Uber office every day for the last 34 days but there has been no response. The issue came to light on Thursday after the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union (TGPW) took up the issue. Many other employees have also been losing jobs due to technical error in the app and urged the cab service aggregator to compensate for the losses.

While this is one side of the story, there seems to be a different say from the Uber. A spokesperson from Uber clarified regarding the same, saying, ‘The driver in question did not lose access to the Uber app due to a change in physical appearance. In fact, he had visited an Uber Partner Seva Kendra when he was unable to log in and it was communicated to him that his access to the app had been previously removed due to violations of our community guidelines, which set the highest possible safety standards on our platform.’

‘Uber’s facial comparison tool helps ensure that only the registered driver is using the account and is capable of detecting natural changes in a person’s appearance such as long or cropped hair. In case drivers face a problem logging in due to any technical issue with the selfie verification process, they have the option to visit the nearest Uber Partner Seva Kendra for a manual review of their profile.’