Uber goes after drivers running offline trips, overcharging customers

Ride-hailing company Uber is cracking down on taxi operators on its platform who have been running trips offline.

In a survey sent to customers on Thursday, the company also appealed for information on drivers who have charged customers more than displayed on the app.

“Let us know if your driver requests an offline trip or charges you more than expected using the link here,” read a text message sent to Uber users, along with a link to the online questionnaire.

“Use this form to report that the driver on your recent trip either requested for you to take a trip off the Uber app, refused to take your trip because it was a card trip or if the driver asked for more than the fare displayed on the app,” read the questionnaire. 

Uber invited customers to upload the driver name and phone number in case of the above instances.

This comes just two months after the company revealed that airport requests alone on the app in Kenya had increased by 51.93% compared to last year as the tourism industry recovers from the biting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Uber’s Head of East Africa, Imran Manji in November said their data showed that Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport was one of the top visited places by its customers, followed by Moi International Airport in Mombasa.

He said a significant portion of the riders taking these trips have been national and international visitors, and Uber is enjoying steadily growing popularity as a preferred way for tourists to move around cities.