'We Are Receptive To Feedback': Urban Company CEO On The 'Insta Maids' Controversy

Abhiraj Bhal, co-founder and CEO of Urban Company, spoke about his decision to revise the name of the popular service provided by the company to 'Insta Help' from 'Insta Maids' and said, "We got some feedback, and we are receptive to feedback as a company."

He told NDTV Profit that they had underestimated the connotation that the word "maid" carries and said that it carries a "slightly negative connotation".

The CEO also spoke about the company's core values and said that championing the dignity of labour has always been very crucial to Urban Company.

He also stated that many customers told them that as a company that is trying to champion the cause of labour dignity and better quality of life for service providers, "the term 'maid' did not age well."

On changing the name of the company from 'Urban Clap' to 'Urban Company', he remarked, "We don't get the name right the first time... "Look, 'clap' has a slightly negative connotation in the English dictionary, and as we were expanding overseas and also becoming bigger in India, we felt that we needed a name which was more in line with our vision."

The co-founder spoke about the company's attitude towards feedback and said that they are quite receptive to it and consider feedback as constructive. He also added that at Urban Company, they like to recognise patterns and fix underlying fundamental issues instead of specific issues faced by customers.

Bhal also recalled the tough calls he has had to make over the years and said that since the beauty segment of their business began to boom and they started getting known as a beauty app for women by 2016, they had to shut their open marketplacebusiness because there was only room for one to grow.

He termed this decision as a "defining moment" for the company.

Urban Company has renamed Insta Maids to Insta Help after backlash from a labour union.