After protests from partners, Urban Company cuts commission cap, announces several initiatives

In a 12-point program aimed at improving partner earnings and livelihood, Urban Company on Thursday said that it was reducing the highest commission slab from 30% to 25%.

After over 150 ‘partners’ from spa and salon verticals had protested against Urban Company’s policies last week demanding better pay, safer working conditions and social security benefits, the home services marketplace Thursday slashed its commission cap by 5%.

In a 12-point program aimed at improving partner earnings and livelihood, Urban Company on Thursday said that it was reducing the highest commission slab from 30% to 25%.

“Earlier, commissions ranged from 8.5% for small orders to 30% for high-ticket orders. Commissions will now range from 8.5% to 25%,” the Urban Company said in a statement.

Among the other key actions that the company said it would undertake to include removing temporary blocks on partners, the marginal increase in prices of high demand services, reducing the maximum cap on monthly penalties per partner in a month to Rs 1,500 (instead of Rs 3000) and regarding product pricing and deductions.

The company further said that it will transfer the entire amount collected from customers to the partners for last-minute cancellations.

On October 8, a majority of women partners from spa and salon verticals had gone on a day-long strike outside the company’s office at Udyog Vihar. The partners had sat outside the building, raised slogans and, in protest, logged out of the portal’s app for two days over the weekend and did not accept bookings, alleging that the company had incrementally hiked commissions arbitrarily, which was cutting into their payouts.

On Thursday, the company also said that it will set up a dedicated SOS helpline for women partners and modify their logic of partner ratings to incorporate ratings from older orders.

“To ensure all partners are treated fairly, we will start sensitizing our customers on the app to provide both water and usage of the bathroom for partners. We will be setting up a dedicated helpdesk at our end to facilitate insurance claim filing and reimbursement. The company will block customers who mistreat partners,” the statement added.

A beautician, requesting anonymity, said, “The company has announced certain new initiatives after the protest. In the last few days, there have been consultations between the partners and the company representatives regarding our demands. We will discuss and deliberate in the coming days and decide the future course of action.”

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