Johannesburg - Slay queens have become the next biggest headache for e-hailing drivers in Gauteng. Not only do drivers have to put up with robberies, hijackings and murders but now pretty young women are duping them out of ride fees.
In Gauteng alone, 15 e-hailing drivers were hijacked, robbed and or murdered, so far this year.
Drivers on the Bolt and Uber e-hailing platforms have started circulating pictures of young women in a WhatsApp group, who order rides and pay with fake cash-sends. In some instances, the young women tell drivers that they will collect cash from a person at the destination where they have been dropped off, only to never return.
Drivers, who often operate on both platforms say they have very little choice but to drive off as they have been discouraged from getting into arguments or altercations with clients.
A driver who works for Uber and Bolt and who spoke with the Saturday Star on condition of anonymity, said all they can do is report non-paying clients to prevent them from repeating this disturbing trend.
“We know nothing about the clients. Many people are doing it and most drivers keep quiet until they see others talking about it. I have been working for Uber for five-and-a-half years and for Bolt, two years now. When it’s a cash ride, I ask for the money upfront. But people often come with all kinds of stories,” said the driver.
Drivers on a 3 000-strong WhatsApp group also alerted their colleagues to the problem of sharing rides. Someone orders a ride and tells the driver another person will pay. Bolt drivers say they often ask the person to leave their cellphone or something else of value behind which is returned when payment is made.
“Even this is a tricky thing to do as we are not really allowed to do it. I am afraid but how will my family survive? Am I to become a criminal?,” asked the 42-year-old man.
Another driver, who also wanted to remain anonymous, said the trend has been going on for a while.
“The problem with Bolt is that they don’t pay the drivers if this happens. So many drivers don’t even report it. People come up with different excuses each time,” said the man.
Uber drivers said they are at least paid even if the client ends up not paying. Bolt drivers claim they are not paid and lose out.
Head of Communications for Uber South Africa, Mpho Sebelebele described the behaviour of non-paying clients as “regrettable”.
“This is in clear violation of our Community Guidelines. While these types of incidents on the Uber app are uncommon, we take every incident very seriously and are hard at work to continuously find ways to improve the experience of not only drivers who use the Uber app but also of all users. We do not support off-platform payments and encourage riders and drivers to use the payment options provided by Uber to ensure that our customer support team can efficiently assist users where required. All refund disputes are investigated by Uber and determined on a case-by-case basis,” she said.
Sebelebele said Uber encourages drivers not to accept any payment methods that are not in line with the options provided on the app.
Meanwhile, Bolt’s Country Manager in SA, Takura Malaba said the company is not aware of drivers receiving fake electronic payments in the form of cash-sends.
“However, we are aware of incidents where some passengers do not pay drivers after their trips irrespective of the payment method. Bolt can confirm that it does reimburse drivers provided that all details and correct channels are followed for the refund to take place,” Malaba said.
The company unequivocally condemned the trending behaviour of passengers not paying drivers.
“We believe that every person has the right to earn a living. In a country with a very high unemployment rate, Bolt provides a good opportunity for micro-entrepreneurs to earn an income to support themselves and their families. Any passenger found to be in contravention of Bolt’s policy will face losing access to the app,“ Malaba concluded.