Cape Town - Taxi-hailing app Uber will let Capetonians pay for their rides with cash from Thursday, in an effort to attract new customers.
In a statement, the company said it was trying out cash payments in South Africa because this was the country’s most popular payment method.
But two Uber drivers said yesterday they feared the move could backfire.
Cape Town driver Julian Wenn said drivers were concerned that accepting cash could put them in competition with the minibus taxi industry, which would see the move as an encroachment on their turf.
“Cash might work for some, but for how long?” he asked.
He believed the situation would exacerbate the already strained relationship between Uber drivers and other taxi operators.
In Joburg on Friday, an Uber driver and three Metro police officers were attacked and injured in Sandton, allegedly by a group of agitated metered taxi drivers.
Another Cape Town driver, Joseph Munzenga, said criminals could “request” an Uber driver using a false name and then rob them or worse.
“The fact that I am known to be carrying cash makes me a target,” he said.
In March, Cape Town Uber driver Webb-Law Chehore was shot dead in Rondebosch while waiting to pick up two passengers. Police are still investigating the case.
But Uber said using cash wouldn’t compromise safety.
“Drivers also have smartphones worth a few thousand rand in their vehicles and we don’t believe that cash will increase the risk,” it said.
“Paying by cash was the norm for people who wanted a ride before Uber came along.”
Many Uber partners who previously drove metered taxis were also familiar with the use of cash, the company said.
While Uber has marketed itself as a “completely cashless” service, it has tested cash payment in overseas cities.
Alon Lits, Uber’s general manager for sub-Saharan Africa, said its previous experiences using cash had been successful.
“The introduction of cash in Singapore... had an extremely positive response and this is a country that has a substantial credit card penetration.”
But the South African experiment is its largest yet, with cash payments introduced simultaneously in five cities.
In addition to the Mother City, Uber users in Port Elizabeth, Joburg, Pretoria and Durban will, from Thursday, be able to select the “cash” option on their smartphones.
Among the 57 cities where cash has been introduced as payment are Nairobi, Jakarta, Cairo and Hyderabad.
To pay with cash, Uber users still need the Uber app on their smartphones.
They can select the “pay by cash” option when they request a driver.
At the end of the trip, the fare is paid to the driver. Users will not, however, be able to hail cars in the street.
Weekend Argus