You can now have an Uber take you to your destination without having to own a smartphone, or requiring necessarily even knowing what the Uber app is.

Uber Technologies Inc. today announced that in an effort to help “loved ones,” with a focus on the aged, it will now allow users to request a ride for other people.

From now on, when you request to be picked up from another location, the app will ask you if the ride is for you or for someone else. Users then can scroll through their contact list, choose a friend, mother, lover or a senior citizen who perhaps isn’t comfortable with technology, and select a destination for that person to be picked up from.

That person will, however, need a device that can receive a text message so that they can pick up the message Uber sent them. This will provide details that include the driver’s identity, phone number, the license plate of the car, who’s paying for their ride and a link to track the car – if they can open that link. You’ll have to pay for the ride, unless you live in a region where cash is accepted.

Uber introduced the feature with the example of a 79-year-old Indian woman and her grandson who has concerns about her mobility. Regardless, it’s just as useful for anyone who still only carries a cellphone, refuses to download the Uber app, is not connected to the Internet, has no money, is new to the city, or perhaps is a concerned parent using ‘request a ride’ to expedite a child’s getting home on time.

“What we’ve learned through research is that at a macro level, people want an easy way to request a ride for a loved one,” Uber product manager Kyle Miller told TechCrunch. “This was in particular a big request for riders internationally, whose loved ones maybe don’t have smartphones or good connectivity, with also a specific emphasis on seniors.”

The feature will roll out in the U.S., India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and 20-plus other countries today, with other countries to follow soon.

Image: sima dimitric via Flickr