Uber taxi riders pay double fares as drivers down tools

Users of online taxi-hailing app Uber yesterday paid more than double the normal fares in Nairobi following a drivers’ switch-off that saw hundreds of the operators abandon duty in protest what they called the American firm’s “exploitative” terms.

Some Nairobi suburbs including Lavington, Riverside, Kileleshwa and Kilimani saw a price surge of up to 2.3 times, meaning that a journey that would ordinarily cost Sh500 when all factors are constant increased to Sh1,150 during the service disruption.

The taxi drivers also plan to hold a three-day demonstration in a bid to compel the San-Francisco-based firm to cede to their demands.

The strike by Kenyan drivers is only the latest to hit the firm after similar industrial action paralysed its operations in India and Qatar last week.

The drivers are opposing the 25 per commission of their total earnings that Uber takes and the 35 per cent price cut that came into effect in July last year, leaving the drivers to absorb all other costs. The drivers in Mombasa and Nairobi have threatened to switch off their devices and hold demonstrations on Thursday, Friday and Monday as well as take to streets until Uber addresses their complaints.

“We have no desire to abandon duty and demonstrate. All we are asking from Uber is a chance to talk and bridge this gap. They lowered the prices without seeking our consent and we are asking them to review them up failure to which we are going to paralyse their service until they come up with a formula that does not dent our pockets,” said Digital Taxi Association of Kenya chairman David Muteru.

They are also planning to petition the government through Parliament to set up a body that will oversee the operations of the traditional and digital taxi players in Kenya if Uber does not reduce the commission and raise the prices.

Last year, Uber cut prices to Sh35 per kilometre down from Sh60. It also reduced its charges per minute by Sh1 to Sh3 and cut the pricing of short rides by Sh100 to Sh200 while base fare remained unchanged at Sh100.

“Uber rejected our offer. We are now left with no option but to take industrial action and to petition the government through parliament to set up industry-wide regulations that will ensure the survival of all players including boda-boda operators, traditional taxis and the digital platform taxis by setting up a fair playing field,” said James Mahianyu, the association’s analyst.

The lobby group joins other city taxi drivers who had petitioned MPs two weeks ago, asking lawmakers to intervene and set a price for various destinations that have to be observed by all players.

The go-slow comes as the tussle between Uber and Kenya Airports Authority gets heated following the authority’s decision to block some taxi operators from accessing airports in favour of the traditional yellow taxis.

Uber taxi drivers claim that airport authorities, acting in concert with the police, have been preventing them from dropping and picking up passengers from the major airports.