Uber announces it's hiking fare prices in France
Ride-hailing app Uber is upping its prices in France, the company announced on Thursday, in a move aimed at improving pay and conditions for its drivers.
The service, which has had a troubled time since it launched in France in 2011, said it would be hiking its prices from December 8th, by 10 to 15 percent.
“For 2017 our priority is to improve the conditions for drivers,” read a statement from Uber.
“The prices of journeys on UberX and UberVan will slightly increase from December 8th to allow our drivers to cope with the recent increase in their costs that are linked to the new regulations regarding the private hire cab service (VTC) in France,” read the statement.
The minimum price for a journey on UberX will increase from “€5 to €6 in order to increase the profitability of short distance trips.”
The price per minute of a trip will increase from 0.25 centimes to 0.3 centimes, the basic price will rise from €1 to €1.20 and the price per kilometre will rise slightly from €1 to €1.05.
The cost of cancelling an Uber driver, once it has been ordered will be the equivalent of a minimum journey, so €6. The price hikes will not impact the Uber Pool service.
However it wasn't all good news for drivers given that the percentage of each tariff deducted by Uber from the driver will rise from 20 percent to 25 percent, which the company says is in line with its pricing in other cities in the world.
The American company claims the price hike will see its drivers, which it calls its “clients” or “partners” improve their sales figures by around five percent.
Unions representing Uber drivers remained cautious, but accepted the price hike “was in the right direction”.
Joseph François president of the AMT union told La Tribune newspaper that the rise did not make up for the 20 percent cut in prices that Uber brought in last year.
The company lowered its tariffs in October 2015 citing competition, but it prompted drivers to take to the streets in protest as they threatened to boycott the app.
“Uber's near monopoly allows it to play around with the flat rate without a care for the livelihoods of its drivers,” Mohammed Rabi, a union spokesman told France Info radio at the time.
But the company did promise one positive development for customers.
Soon passengers will be able to know exactly the price of their ride in advance rather than the current system which gives them a price range.
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The service, which has had a troubled time since it launched in France in 2011, said it would be hiking its prices from December 8th, by 10 to 15 percent.
“For 2017 our priority is to improve the conditions for drivers,” read a statement from Uber.
“The prices of journeys on UberX and UberVan will slightly increase from December 8th to allow our drivers to cope with the recent increase in their costs that are linked to the new regulations regarding the private hire cab service (VTC) in France,” read the statement.
The minimum price for a journey on UberX will increase from “€5 to €6 in order to increase the profitability of short distance trips.”
The price per minute of a trip will increase from 0.25 centimes to 0.3 centimes, the basic price will rise from €1 to €1.20 and the price per kilometre will rise slightly from €1 to €1.05.
The cost of cancelling an Uber driver, once it has been ordered will be the equivalent of a minimum journey, so €6. The price hikes will not impact the Uber Pool service.
However it wasn't all good news for drivers given that the percentage of each tariff deducted by Uber from the driver will rise from 20 percent to 25 percent, which the company says is in line with its pricing in other cities in the world.
The American company claims the price hike will see its drivers, which it calls its “clients” or “partners” improve their sales figures by around five percent.
Unions representing Uber drivers remained cautious, but accepted the price hike “was in the right direction”.
Joseph François president of the AMT union told La Tribune newspaper that the rise did not make up for the 20 percent cut in prices that Uber brought in last year.
The company lowered its tariffs in October 2015 citing competition, but it prompted drivers to take to the streets in protest as they threatened to boycott the app.
“Uber's near monopoly allows it to play around with the flat rate without a care for the livelihoods of its drivers,” Mohammed Rabi, a union spokesman told France Info radio at the time.
But the company did promise one positive development for customers.
Soon passengers will be able to know exactly the price of their ride in advance rather than the current system which gives them a price range.
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