Leading cab-hailing service Uber has faced a lot of public outcry and problems in the last few months. However, company officials are now desperate to mend fences and win back the reputation that it enjoyed previously. Uber CEO, Travis Kalanick, stepped down following the slew of incidents surrounding the company.
Several scandals surrounding the company were related to Uber’s overall treatment of its drivers. Drivers did not have any means of receiving tips from their passengers, which caused a lot of discord among the people working as drivers for the cab-hailing company.
Now, however, the company rolled out an update to its app which will let its drivers accept tips from passengers.
Tips for Uber drivers
Almost two years after competitor Lyft added the tipping option to its service, Uber has also implemented the feature. On June 20th, the update with the tipping functionality rolled out to the Uber app in select regions like Seattle, Minneapolis, and Houston. The rest of America will receive the update by the end of July. This change in Uber’s attitude is being seen by many as a way of mending fences with its drivers, passengers, officials, and others associated with the company.
At the end of a ride, passengers will be asked whether they would like to leave a tip for the driver.
If they decide to do so, they will be given up to 30 days to make the tip payment. Riders can select from a pre-determined value, such as $1, $3, and $5, and they may even enter a custom amount.
Other changes to Uber to ensure satisfactory driver compensation
The company added that along with the tipping feature, it would also make some other changes in order to ensure that all drivers associated with Uber received fair compensation for their time behind the wheel.
One of the changes which will be introduced will charge a rider by the minute if they keep a driver waiting for more than two minutes. These changes will also charge the rider a $5 fee every time they cancel a ride two minutes or more after they request it.
These moves from Uber were hailed by the Independent Drivers Guild as a big win for all Uber drivers, and members also said that they were proud to have led the way in the fight for drivers in New York and all across the United States. It remains to be seen if customers can forget Uber’s past failings and give the company a second chance -- either way, it will be interesting to see what happens.
