It has been a busy few days for Uber in Croatia. A new product launch, as well as two attacks on its drivers which made the national media. And some expansion plans. TCN caught up with Davor Tremac, General Manager for South-East Europe on September 29, 2016, to learn a little more.
An Uber driver's car was set on fire by masked men in Zagreb with him inside two days ago (see TCN report here). Firstly, how is the driver, and secondly what is your reaction to this act?
What happened was a unprecedented and senseless act of violence which we strongly condemn. At Uber, the safety of our riders and partners is a priority.
Luckily, the partner was not injured, but, understanbly, he is affected by what happened
Right now we are focusing first and foremost on providing our partner-driver every help he might need, including legal and financial assistance. Our team is in constant contact with the victim.
This attack follows on from another verbal attack by three men, captured on video and released in the media, at Zagreb airport a few days ago (see TCN report here). How responsive have the police and authorities been to this threatenening behaviour?
We are commited to support the authorities in their investigation with all information at our disposal. We trust they will find out who did this and why. Now, the important thing is that this will not happen again.
Uber usually operates as a cashless transfer via your application, but this week you introduced the option of cash payments into the Croatian market (see TCN report here). Tell us more.
Starting from this week Uber riders will be able to pay for their rides using cash across all four cities in Croatia that Uber is present in - Zagreb, Zadar, Dubrovnik and Split. All existing and new users will be given the option of choosing their prefered method of paying after each ride. Cash payment for Uber rides is present in 29 countries across the world including the UK, where cash has helped a significant number of people to order a ride using the Uber app. In cities such as Manchester, Cape town or Singapore because of cash payments, ordering a ride at the push of a button became a reality for a large portion of the population.
The reason for this added payment model is Uber’s goal of making transportation as reliable as running water, everywhere for everyone including users who do not have a credit card or to those who simply prefer using cash and would normally not be able to hail an Uber ride.
After the addition of Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik, any news on where Uber plans to start up next?
We want to be everywhere. Currently, we are having a constructive dialogue with the relevant ministries of Slovenia as well as with the City of Ljubljana. We wish to enter the Slovenia in partnership with national and local authorities - we recently signed a letter of cooperation with the Government there - our goal is to expand consumer's choice, increase service quality, and help Slovenia to become one of the European digital champions
