Uber — Retrospective fare increases are unacceptable

Uber — Retrospective fare increases are unacceptable

I am extremely unhappy with Uber’s handling of fares.

Uber provides an upfront fare for a journey, which is then charged to my payment method. However, hours later — often later in the evening — Uber reverses the original charge and processes a higher charge.

The explanation is often that the journey took a longer route or took longer than anticipated.

I accept that a fare may legitimately change where I, as the rider, change the destination or request an additional stop. My fare must therefore be changed and charged immediately.That is reasonable.

What I do not accept is being retrospectively charged more because the driver took a different or longer route, or because the journey took longer due to traffic. These are circumstances that are generally outside the rider’s control.

The practice of charging the original amount and then, hours later, reversing it and replacing it with a higher charge is particularly concerning from a consumer-transparency perspective.

I believe this practice warrants examination under South Africa’s Consumer Protection Act, particularly in relation to fair dealing, transparency and potentially misleading or unfair pricing practices.

I am therefore formally raising this issue with Uber and, if it is not satisfactorily resolved, I intend taking the matter to the National Consumer Commission for investigation.

I would like Uber to explain:

• Why an upfront fare can be retrospectively increased • What constitutes a sufficiently significant route deviation to justify the increase • Why the rider should bear additional costs resulting from a driver-selected route • Why additional time caused by traffic can result in a higher fare • Why the original payment is reversed hours after the journey and replaced with a higher charge instead of an immediate charge • Exactly how the additional fare is calculated

Customers should be able to have confidence that the price presented to them is the price they will pay, except where there is a legitimate and clearly disclosed reason for a change attributable to the customer's actions.

Uber needs to provide much greater transparency around this practice.