Uber issues alert against overcharging driver
REUTERS file photo
SINGAPORE — Car-sharing and taxi-booking app Uber issued an alert today (March 2), warning its users against an individual claiming to be a driver on its platform.
In the alert, Uber said the car with licence plate SJT 1444Y was not registered on its platform and urged anyone in contact with the vehicle to contact the company and the police.
“Uber has filed a police report and alerted the Land Transport Authority of this incident,” the company said.
An Uber spokesperson told TODAY that over the past few days, members of the public and Uber users had written to them to alert the company about the driver.
In a Facebook post yesterday, Mr Amo Jov recounted his experience when he boarded this particular car and was charged S$97 for the trip.
Mr Jov said he was trying to hail a cab in the Beach Road area with his family that day when the car stopped for his family.
According to Mr Jov, the driver claimed he was from Uber and used an iPhone app as a meter.
Mr Jov said the meter rose to about S$50 in a ride that was shorter than 30 minutes, and he then requested the driver to drop him off mid-way. Yet, in less than three minutes, Mr Jov found that the meter had jumped by another S$40. When confronted about the meter fare, Mr Jov said the driver claimed to have informed him that that the charges were at a rate of S$8/km.
The Facebook post has since been shared over 9,000 times.
Uber first arrived in Singapore in 2013, providing two car-sharing services – the mid-tier UberExec in February 2013, followed by the lower-tier UberX in March last year. The two services work by connecting passengers with drivers of vehicles for hire via an app. It also launched its UberTaxi services in September last year.
