Uber charges Rs 3k for 50km; man says flight to Goa cheaper

CHENNAI: Mumbai resident tweeting out a screengrab of Uber app charging him Rs 3,000 for a 50-km ride amid heavy downpour has caused ripples on Twitter.

Twitter user Shravankumar Suvarna was just trying to book himself a ride home from Prabhadevi to Dombivili, but Uber’s charge had him in for a ride.

“Flight to Goa is cheaper than my ride home #peakmumbairains," Suvarna wrote.

As per his screenshot, UberGo was charging Rs 3,041, premier had a fare of Rs 4,081, and XL would charge a whopping Rs 5,159.

A Twitter user made calculations with the increase in fuel prices and stated that Rs 1,200 is reasonable fare for a vehicle with 10km mileage. However, things don’t really look up even on a good day, as Suvarna shared that he usually pays Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 without a surge.

This tweet went viral with netizens opposing the exorbitant fare by aggregators. There were comments stating how this amount can be spent in various ways and that they will now switch from cab rides to public transport such as trains and buses. It is to be noted that Uber officials did not issue any statement till the time of going to press.

Sources in conglomerate firms said that surge price was algorithm based on supply and demand.

Since the rider was booking a cab in the rain, when demand was high, but supply was low, surge price kicked in, as per reports.

However, according to Shravankumar’s post, the ride was booked around 9.30 pm.