Undone by Uber: When ride-sharing takes a U-turn to ride-hailing

On a Sunday morning, Farzana Tasnim was supposed to travel from Moghbazar to Gulshan-1 to attend an urgent meeting. It was an extremely important meeting for the private job holder as it could pave her way to a long-awaited promotion.  

While she was already running a little late, it was also raining – meaning she was in no position to reach the main road on foot and then catch a public bus. Taking a bike ride was also out of the question during the downpour. Having no choice, she requested a car ride on her Uber app. 

After nearly five minutes of waiting, her request was accepted by a driver, who was in Panthapath about 3 kilometres from her home. She wasn't quite sure whether the driver would come this far to pick her up. So, she hurriedly made a call to the driver. 

Curiously, the driver started asking Tasnim all kinds of silly questions, such as where she would go, if she was alone, if she would pay by cash and if she would give him any tips. 

Tasnim remained calm and collected and answered every question. "As I had no other choice, I felt like this man was my boss and I had to somehow convince him to take me to my destination," recalled Tasnim. 

After being assured that Tasnim would pay him by cash, and would also add a good amount of tips, the driver agreed to come. But the driver said, because of traffic, he would need at least 15 minutes.

Tasnim patiently waited for the car to arrive. Every minute felt like a year to her, and after about 12 minutes, she realised that the driver had cancelled her request and the app was now looking for a new driver. 

Flying into a rage, Tasnim called the driver. Without any remorse, the man simply said, "I got a better deal," and cut off the line immediately. It wasn't clear whether the "better deal" had come from another app or a contractual ride, also colloquially known as 'khep.' 

In the end, Tasnim could not make it to the meeting that day; and instead of a promotion, all she got from her "real boss" was a wholesale reproach.  

Of course, Tasnim isn't alone. Like her, numerous riders have been facing the same kind of obstacles stemming from Uber's highly problematic and inconsistent service. 

The recurring complaints include cancellation of requests by drivers because they are willing to go to destinations of their own choice, not willing to accept payment through MFS or bank cards or forcing the riders to cancel the rides themselves. 

While these problems have been commonplace since almost the beginning, in recent years, drivers' tendency to take contractual rides has increased manifold. In fact, contractual rides by Uber drivers and other problems mentioned have seen a substantial rise in the last 3-6 months this year. 

"On many occasions, drivers asked me to cancel my ride, promising to charge me the exact same amount of money shown on the app," revealed Shamim Islam, a public university student. But Shamim found himself penalised by Uber for cancelling the ride after the driver had reached his pick-up point. 

The practice of commuting via Uber while going off the app (meaning contractual rides) has also raised questions about safety for passengers, especially women. One such woman, who was harassed by a driver for not agreeing to cancel her ride request and go on a contractual ride instead, shared her story. 

Marjia Akter, a private university student, prefers ride-sharing apps in the first place due to their pre-conceived security assurances. But if one ride is not recorded on the app and something untoward happens to her, she wouldn't be able to hold anyone accountable. 

So, she never accepts a contractual ride.

Photo: Noor A Alam

"But one day, when I rejected the suggestion by a driver of cancelling my request, he became so angry with me and started calling me names," said Marjia.  

However, there are many passengers who either willingly (because of having no other options), resort to contractual rides. 

According to a study published in August 2023 titled "Khep: Exploring Factors that Influence The Preference of Contractual Rides to Ride-Sharing Apps in Bangladesh," though the lion's share (73%) of participants do not prefer to use a contractual ride, most of them (68%) eventually had to resort to a 'khep' driver. Also, availability is the biggest reason for having to choose contractual rides over ride-sharing apps, followed by cost, convenience and traffic. 

Apparently, ride-sharing drivers are becoming more and more reluctant to offer their service through apps as they do not want to share the fare with the apps as commissions. 

Mahfuz Ullah, a ride-sharing biker, shared a breakdown of his daily earnings with us. As per his claim, he had to spend Tk500 every day in July this year for fuel, and at the end of the day, his total earnings stood at around Tk1,500. 

But apart from buying fuel, he also had to spend around Tk250 daily as pocket money to buy food, drinks and cigarettes. So, after the overall calculation, his daily income was Tk 750, which accounted for a monthly income of Tk 22,500. 

"With the price hike of everything, this money is nothing. But the only respite is I don't have to share my fare with the apps now. But if I had to do it, then my monthly income would be reduced to under Tk20,000. How could I bear the expenses of my family then?," explained Mahfuz before adding, "That's why I no longer use apps." 

Another driver Sohel Rana, who still shares rides through Uber, informed that in the recent past, Uber has charged 25% commissions to car drivers, 15% to bikers and 10% to CNG drivers. "Still, I feel the commission is way too much. It shouldn't be more than 5%." 

However, some bike drivers claimed that they had been charged a 25% commission all along. 

How can you share your grievances with Uber?

It goes without saying that filing a complaint or attempting to share a grievance regarding Uber services with Uber is not easy. Not only it is multi-layered, but the option on the app to contact Uber is so convoluted that most choose not to even bother. 

There's a helpline on Uber which allows users to share their grievances, which comes with a time limit. Users can opt for this option within 30 minutes after completing a ride. This is not effective, given how most users who commute via Uber are in a hurry to reach their office, etc. 

While many Uber drivers say it is because of inflation that they are bound to detour to contractual fares, and in the process, harass users – there seems to be no solution in sight for users. 

After a ride ends, there isn't an effective way to contact Uber to file a complaint. This is true for any degree of inconvenience an Uber user may face using the app – like in the case of Tasnim, in moments of desperation when the user is left at the complete mercy of the driver.

There's also another caveat. While using Uber, there are two options to contact the driver – one is a "free call" and another is a call like any other regular call with call rates. Sometimes, the only option is to make a free call – which comes with a specific phone number only applicable to use through the app. 

Once the driver ends the trip, the user cannot call that number – losing any way to contact the driver. 

We contacted the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA), which approved the "Ride-Sharing Service Guidelines-2017" in 2018. 

"Uber shares their report with us every month and lets us know how many complaints they have resolved. But still, we often hear some people have complaints about the service. We can only look into the matter if someone approaches us and lets us know about their specific issues," said Md Faruque Ahmed, assistant director (engineering) of the Digital Number Plate and Ride Sharing Wing at BRTA. 

However, according to some riders, it is highly unlikely that they would like to go to the extent of approaching BRTA to get justice for the kind of harassment they face on a daily basis while using ride-sharing apps unless the problem is severe and associated with crimes like fraudulence, hijacking or violence. 

"After being undone by Uber on that rainy day, I have decided to never use its service again. But I don't think I have the time or energy to file a complaint against the driver to BRTA and see him brought to book," said Farzana Tasnim. 

"We demand guarantees for quality service. We don't need words of assurance that our complaints would be resolved long after having suffered already," she concluded.

And as far as drivers are concerned, it seems like they already have a ready-made solution for contractual rides. 

Moreover, Uber does not have any headquarters in Bangladesh, they do in India though – meaning, no one can walk into Uber's office to file a complaint either. 

We reached out to Benchmark PR, Uber's public relations agency in Bangladesh, to learn how Uber has been consolidating their position in the Bangladeshi market over the years, and for their response to users' and drivers' complaints. 

An Uber spokesperson sent us a written response to this, which reads: "Uber's success stems from a robust business strategy that prioritises innovation and convenience. At Uber, we are committed to providing safer, reliable, and affordable rides, across all our product categories for two, three or four-wheeled vehicles. We promise to deliver a magical experience at every Uber trip for our riders and drivers. 

"Drivers are at the heart of our business and we will continue to create sustainable livelihood opportunities for them, while also ensuring we keep improving our existing robust processes that enable us to hear them and address their concerns. Competitive pricing, driver incentives and technological advancements maintain its market position."

What about the complaints from riders and drivers? Uber wrote: "Concerns about commission rates and cancellations are being addressed through revised structures and improved driver behaviour."

New uber features, new problems

Also, Uber has introduced some new features most recently, Sohel informed. One such feature is Trip Radar. In the past, one ride request would go to one driver only. But now it goes to several people simultaneously – and it works on a first-come, first-serve basis. This new feature has been causing a lot of dissatisfaction among the drivers. 

Besides, another new feature is Go Pass – using this, drivers will no longer be charged a service fee or commission for every trip. Rather, now they can buy a subscription for 24 hours for Tk70 and have unlimited trips.

But it's not as convenient as it sounds to everyone, especially those who don't share rides professionally. Joy Borua, who would share just one ride on his way to Mirpur 13 from his office in Banani, could once earn around Tk70-80 daily after commission fees. But now with the Go Pass system, he can no longer afford to buy a subscription for Tk70 and then make a profit of just Tk 30-40 for his service of 1-1.5 hours. 

However, most other professional drivers seemed to be satisfied with the Go Pass, with a few complaining that they had been getting fewer requests nowadays.

Photo: Noor A Alam

Ride-sharing or ride-hailing?

According to Belal Ahmed Khan, the general secretary of the Dhaka Ride-sharing Drivers Association, there are around 3,00,000 vehicles sharing rides in Dhaka right now, of which 2,50,000 are bikers. 

"But you can't call it ride-sharing any more, that's a farce. It has now become ride-hailing instead. 90-95% of bikers now give contractual rides, while good-conditioned cars are being used for rent-a-car service," he said. 

He further added that there is still no recognition for ride-sharing drivers. "For an industry to flourish, first you have to recognise the workers. But here, we still don't know whether ride-sharing is a service or a trade. We are still not considered workers, even though we work day in and day out, and pay up to 25% commission on our earnings."

For the dire situation of ride-sharing in Bangladesh, Belal blamed the foreign ride-sharing companies who tried to "feast on commission on the earnings of local drivers without taking into account their hard work and social reality." 

In addition, he also believes the government should be held accountable for being unable to develop laws for app-based ride-sharing and having no control over foreign companies.  

Meanwhile, according to a press release dated 4 September 2022 regarding Uber's 2021 Bangladesh Economic Impact Report, Uber contributed an estimated Tk45 million to the Bangladesh economy in 2021, and rides on Uber's platform produced a Tk70 billion consumer surplus in 2021 – which is roughly equivalent to 0.25% of the GFP of the country.

The press release further noted that 95% of riders say that comfort is an important reason for choosing to use Uber, 73% of driver-partners said they were satisfied with Uber in 2021 and 96% of female riders say that safety is an important factor in their choice to use Uber. 

In the written response to our queries, Uber further added: "Our future plans [in the Bangladesh market] involve expansion, new services, and community engagement, ensuring Uber's leadership by adapting to the market and enhancing user experience."