Uber has come under fire on social media for allegedly racially profiling its clients and charging white clients lower rates.
Some South Africans have been sharing experiences on Twitter of how they have been charged lower rates for trips after changing their African names on their profiles into those of white people. They also claim that they also get better vehicles transporting them by doing so.
In response, Uber South Africa's head of communications, Mpho Sebelebele, has refuted the allegations, saying the company does not discriminate.
"Fares are calculated based on rates for time and distance, and the wait time is subject to the availability of drivers in the area and not determined by the individual requesting. These fares vary by city and product (e.g. UberX, Uber Go, Uber Black). Uber does not discriminate against riders or drivers based on race, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, sex, marital status, gender identity, age, or other characteristics. Therefore a person's race, gender and/or personal profile does not affect the price they pay as a fare."
The odd experience comes after one user, property consultant Sthembile Bhengu, posted a viral tweet on explaining her shock at the price change after trying the experiment using the Uber app.
Bhengu had changed her name to that of a white person before booking a trip on the ride-sharing platform and receiving a discount that was far lower in value than the estimated cost the platform had given her using her real name.
"I had actually seen on Twitter that another person had tweeted saying that they had changed their names to try it out, and they never came back with the result, so I took it upon myself to check this," Bhengu said.
"For me, I use Uber as my daily transport to and from work and read a tweet from someone else who had changed theirs. I checked the price of a trip from my home to my office because I use Uber as my daily transport, so I already knew how much I pay to get there and back," she further added.
Bhengu elaborated that her daily trip to and from work would cost her more than R40, but when she changed the name, the price went down to R18, which perplexed the property consultant.
"I remembered reading Uber's website and learning that trips costs weren't lower than R20, but I was essentially given the price of the UberGo option that was lower and the car was vastly better. They were cars I usually see on the UberX option, which is normally more expensive."
Another user named Kabelo* expressed his dismay under Bhengu's tweet over the price change when he tried the experiment, booking a trip to a regular location and getting charged almost R30 less than his original price.
"I'm upset that this actually works," he said. "I made sure to check that there were no promotional codes or discounts in use before changing my name to Michael and receiving the price difference. It saddens me, but I was happy with the new price because I saved some money," he said.
In light of the above, Sunday Independent reporter Mpho Rantao decided to try the experiment. She attempted the experiment with her own Uber account on a Saturday and her brother's account, changing her full name (but not email) to that of a white person.
"My alias became Bonnie Robertson, ordering a trip from my home to 44 Stanley, which normally would have charged me R52 for the trip. My brother ordered the same trip as mine using his own name. As Bonnie Robertson (and using no discount or promotional codes offered), I was charged R38 for the full trip. However, my brother was charged ten rand more, at R48, which was a mere R4 difference from the R52 charge," she said.
Rantao added that unlike the few South Africans who noted being picked up in vehicles that were considered of a much higher standard than what they would normally receive with the Uber Go option -- she was transported in one of the recent models of the Toyota Corolla.
"My brother, on the other hand, was transported in a VW polo sedan but added that he had said he experienced using a similar vehicle model in past trips with Uber Go and found no major difference in that regard," she said.
Sunday Independent