A Facebook user shared his experience of possibly being cheated of S$97 (US$71) when he was trying to get an Uber ride in Singapore. Uber Singapore sent out an email today to warn users about the scam. It advised customers to call the police if they encounter the driver.
Unlike other taxi apps, Uber engages private drivers to pick up passengers exclusively through a booking system. This means anyone can claim to be an Uber driver to victimize street hailers. Actual Uber users are safe from such scams however, since drivers need to register with the service to receive passengers.
The Facebook user said that when he tried to hail a taxi, a silver Honda pulled up and the driver told him that he was a private taxi driver and that he was from Uber. He got into the car subsequently.
The user noticed something amiss when the metered fare jumped to over S$50 in less than 30 minutes. He claimed that when he boarded the taxi, the driver told him that the charges were “S$3.90 upon boarding & S$0.70 per km” but the driver subsequently said that he had told Jov that he charged S$8 per kilometre.
Not wanting any trouble, especially since he was with his wife and children, he paid S$97 and alighted halfway.
Jov’s Facebook post drew many comments from other users with some claiming that they too boarded the taxi and had to pay exorbitant amounts:
A version of this post was first published on Mothership.sg.
Editing by Terence Lee
(And yes, we’re serious about ethics and transparency. More information here.)
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