Is Uber Overcharging Riders (and Secretly Pocketing Money that Belongs to Drivers)?

 Hi RideGuru Fans, Harry here! I want to share a topic with you today that is really hot right now. A few months ago, Uber changed their pricing model for most major markets to an “upfront fare” pricing system. Instead of showing passengers the rates per minute and per mile, Uber now gives passengers a steadfast fare quote after they enter their dropoff location.

While upfront fares seem convenient for passengers, we started to notice that through this new system Uber was not being 100% transparent and in many cases overcharging passengers without paying drivers the difference. To test this theory, my team and I looked at 4 “Upfront Fares” and in each case we found that Uber is indeed skimming money off the top of their upfront fares. In some cases, passengers were paying up to 50% more than the driver was receiving.

Not only is this unfair for drivers but passengers should also be aware that Uber might be overcharging them on their rides. One of the easiest ways to check what your ride should be costing you is to use the Ride.Guru fare calculator and see how it compares to Uber’s upfront pricing quote.

As pricing for Uber becomes more opaque, we think it is integral to track things for ourselves to make sure drivers and passengers are receiving a fair fare. With enough data, we can begin to make inferences about what type of rides to take or decline, or when it may be worth it to simply call another service (like Lyft).

Head over to TheRideshareGuy.com for our complete study on this topic and help us to bring transparency to the ridesharing industry by sharing this study with others.

Don’t be #TakenForaRide #KeepRidesharesTransparent

Harry Campbell is a part-time Uber and Lyft driver and the founder of The Rideshare Guy.  His site offers articles, videos, podcasts and video training courses to prospective Uber and Lyft drivers and anyone else looking to get into the on-demand economy.