Uber introduced a tipping option to its app just weeks ago, and already drivers have been making a lot of extra money from rider gratuities, the firm has revealed.
The firm announced it will this week hit $50 million in tips for drivers.
Lyft – which has had in-app tipping for years – only hit $250 million in tips last month.
Uber announced it will hit $50 million in tips for drivers this week. Lyft – which has had in-app tipping for years – only hit $250 million in tips last month
‘We’re really, really excited just to see how well that feature has done in just a short period of time,’ said Uber’s U.S. and Canada manager Rachel Holt.
Uber first introduced the in-app tipping option to three US cities in June before rolling it out nationwide in July.
The feature launched in the UK earlier this month.
The option to tip drivers appears in the smartphone apps and comes after criticism of its ‘gig economy’ working conditions.
Now after each trip, the driver will immediately rate their rider out of five stars, before riders are able to leave a tip five minutes later.
Customers will have up to 30 days to tip their drivers, so the drivers will not know whether a tip has been added when they rate the passenger.
The driver will receive 100 percent of the gratuities they are given.
The firm’s UK regional general manager Jo Bertram said the decision to introduce tipping had come after consultation with the firm’s drivers.
Uber has previously come under scrutiny over the employment status of its drivers, with questions raised over whether they are self-employed or workers for the company.
‘Drivers have always come to Uber for work that’s truly on their terms: Work with no boss, work that fits around their lives, work that’s always available when they want it,’ Uber head of driver product, Aaron Schildkrout, said.
‘And so that’s why we’re focusing, in this chapter, on flexibility.’
The tipping option was the first change out of Uber’s ‘180 Days of Change’ initiative, which was announced in June to better the driver experience.
Beginning today, drivers can set up to six destinations per day, meaning Uber will only offer rides along that route. Starting yesterday, Uber enacted new waiting time charges that will be applied to users who keep drivers waiting at the start of a journey
The second phase of the program was focused on support, for which Uber added 24/7 phone service that allows riders to reach an agent in less than 30 seconds.
Sine that went live on July 25, drivers have made around 200,000 phone calls to support, Holt said.
New changes are on the way as well, with the initiative’s third phase focusing on flexibility.
Beginning today, drivers can set up to six destinations per day, meaning Uber will only offer rides along that route.
This will allow drivers to do pickups on their way home or to other personal destinations without ending up having drive a passenger in a direction that is out of their own way.
Until now, drivers could only set two of these per day.
Yesterday, Uber enacted new waiting time charges that will be applied to users who keep drivers waiting at the start of a journey.
Next, Uber will offer drivers even more flexibility with the ability to set certain service parameters. Long-trip notifications are on the way as well, which would allow drivers to see if a ride will be more than 45 minutes
Bertram said: ‘Drivers’ time is valuable and every minute spent waiting for a rider means less time driving and making money.
‘That’s why – from two minutes after the driver arrives at the pick-up point – riders will pay 20p for every further minute they keep their driver waiting.’
The charge may be higher than 20p a minute for users of the more premium XL, EXEC and LUX Uber car services, the company said.
Next, Uber will offer drivers even more flexibility with the ability to set certain service parameters.
For example, drivers could soon limit themselves to specific services, such as UberX, Uber Select, Uber Eats, or a combination of those.
The tipping option and other changers are being introduced as part of Uber’s ‘180 Days of Change’ initiative, which was announced in June to better the driver experience
The app will display how setting different parameters would affect the driver’s demand.
Long-trip notifications are on the way as well, which would allow drivers to see if a ride will be more than 45 minutes.
Previously, drivers had no way of knowing how long a ride would be and often found themselves on long hauls when they would have preferred a short ride, such as near the end of their workdays or when they were in need of breaks.
A recent government report into workers’ rights in the so-called ‘gig economy’ of which Uber is a part of said a new ‘dependent contractor’ category of worker should be created to better protect those working in the sector.
Uber said these latest changes showed it was listening to its drivers.
‘Over the last 12 months we’ve hosted hundreds of events and spoken to thousands of drivers on the phone, in the office and at roundtable discussions,’ Bertram added
‘While drivers have told us they love the freedom of being their own boss, we’ve also clearly heard that we need to make improvements.