'Minimum 4.7/5 rating required': Urban Company partners protest ID blocking
“Partners pay a high premium to work with Urban Company. They want to work, but they are also human!” said the All India Gig Workers Union.
Women workers in the beauty and spa category of Urban Company in the Delhi-NCR region have been protesting since the beginning of the week after being reportedly banned from the platform for failing to maintain high standards of work.
The protesting workers say that their IDs are being frequently blocked, both temporarily and permanently.
Urban Company, previously UrbanClap, is a technology platform offering a variety of services like beauty treatments, haircuts, massage therapy, cleaning, plumbing, and carpentry at home.
“Partners have been facing the issue of frequent blocking of IDs for nearly a year now. However, the problem has accelerated over the past couple of months,” INC24 reported.
The workers allege they are blocked due to issues such as customers cancelling bookings and receiving lower ratings from users.
Moreover, the protesting group claims that the company has changed the minimum rating criterion. Previously, beautician partners had to maintain a minimum rating of 4.5 in order to operate on the app. They now have to maintain a minimum grade of 4.7, the report added.
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What does Urban Company say?
In response to the media reports, the company said that they had asked partners to depart because they did not fulfil the standards.
“We had recently asked a few partners, who were not meeting the marketplace standards despite multiple prior notices and re-trainings, to part ways with the marketplace. We continue to maintain an open-door policy and encourage dialogue with our partners. We remain committed to building a safe, high-quality home services platform.”
Gig workers' union comes in support
All India Gig Workers Union (AIGWU) has also come into the protesting workers' support. Calling the practice exploitative, they have made several demands:
1. Enable all Blocked IDs
2. Abolish the practice of permanent ID blocking
3. Eliminate multiple rating systems
4. Lower the minimum rating from the current standard
5. Implementation of week off and sick leave provisions
"Partners pay a high premium to work with Urban Company- in the form of kit/onboarding fees, and monthly fees. They want to work, but they are also human! UC should really listen to their workers & strive to create humane working conditions," AIGWU tweeted on Tuesday.
