Uber drivers in Hyderabad say earnings not enough

[TampaChinnodu]

Uber drivers in Hyderabad say earnings not enough

The drivers alleged that the Uber blacklisted the drivers who raised their voice and denied them further trips. “We are making an average of 500 per day, which is not enough to meet our expenses,” said one driver.

 

An Uber driver highlighting the issue of poor earnings at an event organised to launch last mile connectivity. Photo: Hrudayanand

Hyderabad: Even as the use of taxi hailing services are on the rise, Uber Chief Executive Officer Barney Harford faced an embarrassing situation on Thursday in Hyderabad after a few drivers said they were pushed into debt as earnings have come down. They stormed an event that was organised to announce the launch of last mile connectivity from metro stations.

Among others, the drivers said that their earnings dipped due to more cabs being added. This apart, the rise in diesel prices has also dent their margin and this further added to their woes.

 

The drivers alleged that the Uber blacklisted the drivers who raised their voice and denied them further trips. “We are making an average of 500 per day, which is not enough to meet our expenses,” said one driver.

The drivers also alleged that Uber deployed bouncers at their office and they did not anyone to raise any issues.

Seeing the commotion, Barney left the event even as the media asked the Uber official to explain their stand on driver issues, surge prices and related aspects.

Later, Amit Jain, President, Uber, India and SA, said the company was supposed to get 20 per cent from fares collected as its share for providing the technical platform. However, in the last three years of operations in Hyderabad, the company has not taken any revenues and instead gave the same back to drivers in varied forms.

He said Uber would deal with driver issues on a case-by-case basis. He said it worked to strike a balance between the driver demands for increasing the fares and the passenger demands for reducing the fares. The official also supported the surge pricing or dynamic pricing, where the prices increases with the demand for cabs. He referred this as a tool that will help the driver earn more.

Later during the day, Uber in a statement said drivers earn as per the numbers of hours they drive and it is hard to talk about average driver earnings as each works differently. It is focused on ensuring Uber App remained attractive entrepreneurial opportunity. Driver earnings across India have largely remained sustainable and over 80 percent of drivers who are online for eight hours a day make between Rs 1500 to 2500 net after deducting Uber’s 20 percent service fee.