The next time, after your trip, your Uber driver shows you the fare on their phone, make sure to compare it to the amount shown on your app. The ride-hailing app has identified what appears to be a fake-fare scheme in which drivers are allegedly showing customers a higher fare.
Uber is still tallying the number of complaints, so it’s unclear how widespread this scam is, but industry insiders claim it’s rare. This, however, might be the result of passengers not understanding what’s going on and possibly not realizing they are being taken advantage of.
When passengers realize what is going on, the drivers typically threaten to make them pay by calling them “poor” and requesting that they contact Uber to get their money back, according to sources. The passenger loses out because the aggregator typically reimburses the actual amount displayed on the app.
An Uber executive who asked to remain anonymous stated that “this fake fare scam came forward in one of the cases where the amount displayed was almost double the actual fare amount.”
“The amount that was initially shown at the time of booking is less than what is shown on the fictitious bill that is displayed on the screen. Our understanding is that a screenshot displaying a higher fare is displayed after the trip ends, and the unsuspecting passenger pays the difference.”
Uber is keeping an eye on other cities and has received a few complaints of this nature from Bengaluru and Delhi. A passenger in Bengaluru was charged nearly twice the actual fare in the first case that has been reported.
