Uber Chap Chap drivers have been accused of defrauding customers by overcharging them on rides taken.
According to an exposé done by a local daily, the Uber drivers have been charging their customers with the more expensive UberX rates.
The drivers have further been exposed for allegedly altering their classification in the Uber system from Chap Chap to UberX service, which is categorized in the premium rate.
Normally, the UberX and the Chap Chap services diversely vary in pricing.
The budget option, which most customers request to be served by, is always serviced by the small but fuel-efficient 800cc Suzuki Altos whereas the UberX option is serviced by larger cars with bigger engine capacity hence the more it costs for a ride.
The different services being on one platform makes it lucrative for drivers in the budget category to falsify their classification.
Digital Taxi Association of Kenya (DTAK) chairman David Muteru confirmed that the fraud has been happening but it is not rampant.
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He asserted: “This has been happening for a while now. Uber has been promoting the Chap Chap taxis and we are of the idea that maybe they are pushing the public to use these vehicles more to make Chap Chap look attractive to its drivers.
“They want drivers to think that it is as profitable to increase the uptake of Suzuki Altos” he stated.
Speaking on the new revelation, Uber mentioned that it only allows some of their vehicles to engage in “cross-dispatch.”
However, Uber’s East Africa’s spokesperson,Janet Kemboi, affirmed that only the UberSELECT driver-partners can opt in to receive UberX trips.
Kemboi’s sentiments means that Chap Chap vehicles are not allowed to pick UberX passengers, although this has been the case in Nairobi.
According to Ms Kemboi, cross dispatch only allows UberX driver-partners to opt in and receive Uber Chap Chap trips while UberSELECT driver-partners can opt in to receive UberX trips.
She went ahead to clarify that when a cross dispatch happens, the customer is always notified and will not be required to pay the higher rates.
Contrary to her sentiments, there have been complaints raised from affected riders who revealed that some kind of fraud have been going on with the Chap Chap vehicles since December.
A customer who has been a victim of the anomaly revealed that she reported an incident last Wednesday after she was overcharged for the fourth time within two weeks, claims which Uber dismiss that it was not possible.
Ideally, when an UberX picks a Chap Chap passenger, the driver is expected to charge Chap Chap rates.
However, Chap Chap drivers should not charge UberX rates although different customers complained that it was happening.
This new fraud comes months after a public uproar over reports of fraudulent billing where drivers were manipulating GPS logs to prolong trips, hence increasing the ride’s trip.
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