Came across this via TaxiPoint. Article from the Daily Star is a week old, but there's some additional comment from a tech expert below from TaxiPoint.
Don't think there's anything particularly new about all this - certainly plenty of stuff online if you look around for it - but still worth highlighting.
Uber 'price fixing': Drivers accused of 'hacking system' to inflate fareshttps://www-dailystar-co-uk.cdn.ampproj ... system/ampDRIVERS for taxi firm Uber have been accused of a string of murky practices to leave customers out of pocket.Cabbies are said to “rig” the system to inflate fares – and they also routinely bag cancellation fees by not bothering to pick up their clients.
A Daily Star Sunday investigation found drivers admitting they are manipulating the app to beat the system and boost their earnings.
One member of staff told the Daily Star Sunday that they worked together to create a false demand and push up the “surge price”.
A surge fare means the regular cost is doubled, or even tripled.
The driver, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “Drivers basically hack the app so their location is hidden.
“That means the app thinks there aren’t many cabs available in the area, so the surge price rockets. “Then they reveal their location to book a fare and wham, they get three times extra money.”
Another trick involves the driver delaying arrival to force a passenger, bored of waiting, to cancel. After five minutes if a customer cancels the booking they have to pay a fee of up to £6.
This means the driver benefits from a cancellation price without even leaving their location.
Passengers have particularly noted this behaviour at airports.
Our investigator recorded these delay tactics on a number of trips from Heathrow and Gatwick in London.
The driver, who said he earned around £250 a night, confirmed: “There’s definitely a whole group of drivers who hang around Gatwick and Heathrow airports to get free cancellation fees, yeah.”
When asked to clarify what that entailed, the source added: “So what they can do is accept the fare, then just hang around, just kind of driving around the same roundabout.
“The customer cancels because they get sick of waiting and the driver gets like a fiver for nothing.” Writing on LoyaltyLobby.com, a customer called John Ollila wrote: “I wasted 20 minutes of my time on Tuesday trying to get a driver to pick me up at Heathrow T5.”
Users also complain on Twitter about Manchester Airport and Birmingham International Airport.
Uber has been the subject of protests and legal action by taxi drivers and firms around the world.
They argue that the firm bypasses local licensing and safety laws.
In particular, its lack of background checks and vetting of drivers has been criticised.
Last year Transport for London refused to renew Uber’s licence amid safety concerns.
A leaked memo from the fi rm to its regulators revealed in June this year more than 2,500 drivers had been investigated for suspected offences.
From February 2016 to February 2017, the Met Police handled allegations of 48 sex attacks in London. In May, Muhammad Khurram Durrani, 38, from south London, was jailed for 12 years for raping a 27-year old passenger in the back of his car before taking a selfie with her.
Steve McNamara, General Secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, said: “We have always believed that Uber’s price surging is immoral, designed to exploit passengers.”
A spokesman for Uber said the alleged behaviour is against the company’s guidelines and terms for drivers.
How does Uber work? USING an app on your phone, you type in your destination and search for a cab.
It will then automatically allocate your job to a driver nearby.
The app uses geo-locating tools to find where you are and where the nearby drivers are situated.
If few drivers are available “surge pricing” kicks-in, which means fares increase.
If your trip goes to plan, Uber takes the fare using bank details saved on the app.
However, if you need to cancel the trip five minutes or more after the driver accepts it, you will be charged a fee.
In some cities the cancellation time permitted before charge is only two minutes.
The cancellation fee varies from city to city, but in London it is £6.
From TaxiPoint:
https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/single-pos ... are-pricesBut Fareed Baloch, a taxi expert who works in technology for zoom.taxi, said the blame actually lay at the feet of Uber, who are behind the technology used by drivers and passengers.
“With the massive engineering team behind Uber’s technology, it is beyond understanding how they have left loopholes in their driver app – which is what allows this deception to happen.
“But if they are aware of the loopholes that means they must turn a blind eye to allow their drivers to benefit and of course this means Uber in turn makes more money from commissions.”
The discovery will raise questions after a judge at Westminster Magistrates Court ruled that Uber was a ‘fit and proper’ company after its managers said that “wholesale changes” had been made following Transport for London’s refusal to renew its operator license last September.
Mr Baloch said the discovery “raised yet more doubts about the decision to award Uber a license in London.”
“The short term license was granted because Uber pleaded in court that they had changed. Well, I believe that many people would question whether having a piece of technology that allows what is essentially fraud to take place makes them a ‘fit and proper company’.
“Uber has put many private hire companies out of business because consumers thought they were ‘easier’ and ‘cheaper’. I hope potential passengers now look to local, reputable companies when they need to book a vehicle.”
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