Uber India hikes ride fares to cushion-proof drivers from rising fuel costs

New Delhi, May 19

Ride-hailing company Uber India has raised fares to cushion drivers from the impact of rising fuel prices across many cities in the country, its Director of Central Operations Nitish Bhushan said on Thursday.

Amid the rising cost of fuel, the driver members on the council had raised this as a key issue to the company.

"The hike in fuel prices has impacted everyone, especially ridesharing drivers who have felt the pinch of rising fuel costs," said Bhushan.

"We are always striving to make driving with Uber a viable and attractive option for drivers and the recent hike in fares will directly boost their earnings per trip," he said in a blog post.

To remove frustration for riders and drivers alike, the company is also showing trip destinations to drivers before they decide to accept the ride.

"Drivers at the Uber advisory council meeting told us they would like more flexibility around payments. We are now showing drivers the mode of payment (cash or online) before the trip starts," the company said.

To make the cash or online decision irrelevant, the company has also introduced a daily pay process for drivers.

With these changes, the company said that they are also reinforcing their service quality expectations with drivers especially in areas like cancellations and ensuring AC rides.

The company, however, did not elaborate on the burning issue of ride cancellations by drivers and surge pricing that has affected the riders in the country.

The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) last week warned ride-hailing platforms like Uber and Ola to fix rising consumer complaints regarding ride cancellations, cancellation charges, random surge pricing, and long waiting times, or else face penal action.

The consumer regulator, under its Chief Commissioner Nidhi Khare, gave the ride-hailing platforms 30 days to fix their algorithms related to ride cancellations and surge pricing, else they will be penalised.

The Department of Consumer Affairs is also set to issue new guidelines related to surge pricing and ride cancellations by ride-hailing platforms soon that will give some reprieve to the end users, according to sources.

The CCPA grilled cab aggregators over their algorithms related to ride cancellations and surge pricing and directed them to be more vigilant regarding their customers.

The authority had received numerous complaints of unfair trading practices, such as cab drivers forcing riders to cancel trips that result in the customers paying the cancellation charge.