Urban Company punishes workers for user cancellations, blocks worker ID over poor rating

Gig workers at Urban Company have initiated protests against the company's 'unusual' regulations.

Beauticians working for the service provider have accused Urban Company of suspending their ID cards without warning or prior notice.

According to the workers, their IDs were blocked by the company if they received ratings below 4.8 out of 5. Additionally, they claimed that they faced penalties when users canceled their bookings.

According to a report by MoneyControl, a group of beauticians affiliated with Urban Company recently staged a protest at the company's office in Gurugram.

Their primary grievance revolved around the company blocking their accounts, both temporarily and permanently. These blocks were imposed due to various issues, including customer cancellations and receiving lower ratings from users.

This problem of account suspension was not limited to salon service providers but also affected partners from other segments working with Urban Company.

The protesting beauticians also raised concerns regarding service bookings. They highlighted instances where, despite having available time slots for appointments, the Urban Company app failed to display this availability to customers. This, in turn, negatively impacted their income and business prospects.

Additionally, the protesting partners alleged that the company was favouring new beauticians on the platform, which made it challenging for existing partners to secure repeat bookings.

This alleged preferential treatment towards newcomers raised concerns about fairness and equal opportunities for long-standing partners.

As per the report, it was also revealed that beauticians associated with Urban Company are required to pay for training before they can begin working on the platform.

The training fees reportedly varies depending on the specific category in which they choose to work. For example, within the salon for women category, there are three subcategories available: Classic, Prime, and Luxe, each with increasing costs.

Prior to joining the platform, it is mandatory for partners to complete this training, and they assert that the initial payment can be as high as Rs 1 lakh, which includes equipment expenses.

Apart from the training fees, partners are also responsible for covering the costs of purchasing perishable materials necessary for their services and other essential requirements. Partners themselves bear the expenses related to the materials used in providing their services.

However, partners are expressing grievances about their IDs being blocked without discrimination, which has a significant impact on them considering they have already invested money in the training. Many partners even resort to taking loans to cover these training costs.

Neha, a partner in the prime category, has been working with the platform for several years expressed her frustration over being blocked due to cancellations by the customers.

While speaking to MoneyControl, Neha said that she believes it is unfair for workers that they are not given an opportunity to appeal the decision by the company in terms of blocking. She told that it has a significant impact on their livelihoods.

As per Neha, the blocking of partners is done indiscriminately and without the considering individual circumstances.

Replying to the allegations, a spokesperson of Urban Company said, “Our investments in training (which is free of cost and not by partners), technology, tooling, products, free life, accidental and health insurance etc. Go a long way in having a controlled experience on the marketplace, enabling service partners to deliver best-in-class quality and earn a decent, middle-class livelihood.”

“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 without partners. We remain committed to building a safe high-quality home service platform,” the spokesperson added, while talking to MoneyControl.