Exclusive: How Uber drivers trigger fake surge price periods when no delays exist

A number of Uber drivers have lifted the lid on how unscrupulous operators are gaming the system and creating fake surge price periods, sending the cost of fares through the roof. And authorities are powerless to stop it.

EXCLUSIVE

A growing number of Uber drivers are gaming the share-ride platform’s sophisticated algorithms to create fake surge price periods – and are becoming as dodgy as rogue taxi drivers.

That’s the warning from a number of current Uber drivers who have provided Drive with detailed accounts of how unscrupulous operators are tricking the system to create fake surge price periods, and sending the cost of fares through the roof.

While crooked cabbies have been known to fudge the meter by running a night rate during the day, discreetly tapping the extras button when the customer isn’t paying attention – or not run the meter at all – unethical Uber drivers are using the ride-share smartphone app to trick the online platform by artificially creating surge price periods when no delays exist.

The hi-tech Uber scam skims thousands of dollars from unwitting passengers day and night – and delivers a financial windfall to drivers – by charging up to triple the normal fare, whistleblowers claim.

And, for now, the ride-share company Uber, its passengers, and the state government are powerless to stop the bad behaviour.

“It’s usually at the airport on any day of the week, or at hot spots like Bondi, the city, and the eastern suburbs on weekends,” a current Uber driver told Drive on condition of anonymity.

“They get together in a certain area in large groups, agree to log-off the app at a similar time – which they’re allowed to do, to take a toilet break or a meal break – and then they wait while they watch the prices go up.

“Uber starts sending drivers in the area messages saying ‘are you sure you want to take a break, there’s high demand in your area’.

“And when the prices start to surge, they all log back on – usually once it’s past double or triple the normal fare, and off they go, they clean up.”

The confidential source said they were “horrified” by the unscrupulous practice because it is damaging the good reputation Uber had established in the wake of widespread taxi rip-offs.

“We used to be the good guys and the taxi drivers were the dodgy ones, playing with the meters by trying to charge night rates during the day, or tapping the extras button … on the meter when the passenger wasn’t looking, as a way to bump up the fare.

“Now Uber is as bad as the rest. There are bad apples out there. I don’t how many of them used to be taxi drivers, but I know some of the ones pulling these tricks used to be cabbies or still are cabbies.”

Another Uber operator, also speaking on condition of anonymity, told Drive some drivers were gaming the system by cancelling fares once they get close enough to a passenger to find out where they’re heading.

“What they’ll do is, they’ll accept the job, and then once they’re within eyesight of the passenger, the app gives them an idea of the distance of the fare, whether it’s big or small.

“If an Uber driver cancels on you when they’re within eyesight, that probably means they’ve declined the fare because it wasn’t big enough.

“The (Uber) driver then drives past the passenger or near the customer’s location but taps the app and says they can’t find them, and that doesn’t count as a cancellation, and so it doesn’t affect the driver’s cancellation score with Uber. It’s a scam and there’s nothing Uber can do about it.

“Uber incentivises drivers to have a low cancellation rate, but the (unscrupulous operators) have just found a way to work around it. It’s not fair on the good drivers who … the majority do the right thing.”

The Uber surge scam exposé comes as the ride-share company has pledged to cap its surge prices – to double, rather than triple or quadruple the normal rate – during major public transport disruptions in NSW.

In an interview on Radio 2GB, the NSW Point-To-Point Transport Commissioner, Anthony Wing – who is the regulator for taxis, hire vehicles and ride-share services – fumbled his way through an interview with afternoon host Chris O’Keefe, and would not disclose what the Uber deal with the state government meant for prices during a public transport crisis.

When asked repeatedly to outline the details of the Uber surge pricing cap during public transport emergencies, Mr Wing would not give direct answers and attempted to dodge the questions.

When pressed further, Mr Wing said the deal meant Uber would be advised immediately by the Transport Management Centre whenever a public transport crisis was unfolding.

However, Radio 2GB listeners quickly saw through the flimsy response, and one caller noted the new plan would simply give Uber drivers a head start to areas about to be affected by surge pricing.

Mr Wing also confirmed there would be no fines for Uber or its drivers if they tried to charge exorbitant fares – even though it is illegal for taxi drivers to do so.

“There are no penalties on it. This is simply an agreement about getting them in directly as part of the Transport Management Centre,” Mr King told Radio 2GB’s Chris O’Keefe.

The head of Uber for Australia and New Zealand, Dominic Taylor, declined to be interviewed on Radio 2GB but, in a separate interview, told Nine News: “We’re focused with the government on ensuring where there is public transport outages that we will ensure that we are notifying our drivers and ultimately helping more Sydneysiders get home at the end of the day.”

Despite the hype it seems Uber has plenty of work to tidy up its tarnished reputation.

A caller to Radio 2GB echoed some of the dodgy behaviour by Uber drivers that was shared with Drive.

“You’ve only got to go to Mascot of a morning during the peak time, around McDonald’s (and) Krispy Kremes (car park holding area) and they all sit there, the Uber drivers, and they collude,” said Paul, a taxi driver from Erskine Park.

“Trust me, they all look at their phones. They keep knocking the work back until it goes three, four times the rate and then off they go.”

Another listener to Radio 2GB, Peter from Collaroy, said: “This is no deal at all. All they’ve done is put Uber inside the tent, given them direct access to what’s happening in the system, and enabled Uber to put more … of their resources for Uber to make more money. This is not a deal for the people of NSW.”

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