Uber’s secret airport fees in South Africa
Uber is loading its fares to and from South Africa’s airports with surcharges, adding up to R30 to the price quoted when requesting a trip.
A MyBroadband reader informed us of the issue after they were charged an “airport surcharge” and a “Lanseria Airport surcharge” for their trip from the terminal to Douglasdale.
Upon requesting the ride, they were quoted R179 for the trip, which they accepted and completed.
Later the same day, they noticed that the R179 charge had been reversed, and a new charge of R209 was processed.
Upon checking their receipt from Uber, they noticed two surcharges — a R10 “airport surcharge” and a R20 “Lanseria Airport surcharge”.
On their return to the airport a few days later, they noticed a similar occurrence: their trip fare of R215 was reversed, and a new charge of R235 was processed.
However, this time they were only charged the “Lanseria Airport surcharge” of R20.
The reader explained that they fly into Lanseria almost monthly and often make a similar trip using Uber.
They said they had never noticed an occurrence like this before.
Uber receipt for the trip from Lanseria Airport to Douglasdale
According to Uber’s website, a $3.15 (R56) fee applies to drop-offs and pickups at airports, including Lanseria, OR Tambo International, and Cape Town International.
“This airport charges a $3.15 fee for all TNC pickups and drop-offs. This fee is in addition to the $1.55 booking fee and is charged directly to the rider,” it says.
“Uber coordinates repayment of this fee directly to the airport.”
TNC is an acronym for Transportation Network Company — a term government entities use to refer to rideshare companies such as Uber and Bolt.
Strangely, the charges processed in the reader’s case don’t align with the $3.15 fee, and there is no explanation for why they were charged an additional R10.
MyBroadband asked Uber to comment on the matter, but it had not answered our questions by the time of publication.
This rider’s complaint also raises the question of whether changing the price after completing the trip is fair.
Traditional cabs and e-hailing services like Uber and Bolt do have variable charges based on trip distance and duration.
Therefore, the final fare could change if you made your driver wait, hit traffic along the way, or have to take a detour.
However, it is not difficult to argue that not disclosing an airport surcharge up-front is misleading to the consumer.
Loading ...