From this Friday, Uber will increase its prices TVDE journeys (carrying passengers in an uncharacterized vehicle), in a move that also includes participation from industry rivals, Free Now – which raised fares by 10% on February 28 – and Bolt – which told PÚBLICO to plan ” increase prices in the next few days.
In the case of Uber, the increase covers the Lisbon metropolitan area, and is justified in order to allow “more drivers to find an economic opportunity in this activity, even on shorter journeys”. In a context of sharp rise fuel prices, when it was already difficult to meet demand (with episodes of high wait times or trip cancellations), the minimum fare on UberX, for example, increases by 30%, from 2.5 euros to 3.25 euros euros. The basic rate increases by 5.5% to 0.95 euro and the rate per kilometer increases by 5% to 0.62 cents (the rate per minute remains at 0.09 euro, according to the new grid).
According to Uber, “this change may be revised in the future, if there are new variations in demand”. There are no plans to send a message to customers informing them of the new precarious situation, but an official source from Uber pointed out to the PUBLIC that “prices are always displayed in advance to users on the application before the travel request, as required by law, and in such a way that no user is naturally surprised”.
“We are not only suffering the structural impact of two years of the pandemic, which is still far from having disappeared”, specifies the same source, but also the “cyclical effects of the situation in Ukraine”. “Given these constraints, what is essential is that the sector – operators, TVDE drivers and platforms – have the flexibility to best deal with these difficult circumstances, whatever they are and how long they last. last,” says the company. .
In addition to the price adjustment, Uber adds that it continues “to enter into agreements and partnerships that seek to mitigate impacts caused by rising fuel prices, such as the partnership between Uber and Galp, in which Uber drivers have access to exclusive fuel discounts”.
Uptrend
As for Bolt, the manager of this activity in Portugal, Nuno Inácio, points out that the price of fuel “is one of the elements that make up the cost of the services offered” by the company. Therefore, “in view of the announced increase, we expect to have to increase prices in the coming days”, he specifies.
“We are closely monitoring the evolution of fuel prices make informed decisions and be able to internally assess the next steps to take, in order to continue providing a service with competitive prices for the market and the greatest possible profit for our partners,” says the manager. Nuno Inácio adds that earlier this week the company announced “a 15% reduction in commissions charged to drivers using the Electric Range category, for one year”, which drops to 5%.
Bruno Borges, general manager of Free Now in Portugal, recalls that “the upward trend in gasoline and diesel prices is a scenario that has been happening for a year”, a situation that “the outbreak of this war on the European territory ended up getting worse”. ” further away”.
“We recently adjusted fares to lessen the impact of this price increase for drivers.”, adds the manager – the last price adjustment dates back to February 28, with a 10% increase, according to the company. Previously, the minimum tariff had already been raised from 2.5 euros to 3 euros and the tariffs had been abolished. at low price “in the sense of increasing the value of the career of a TVDE driver”. “Currently, we are the platform that charges the lowest commission (20%) to drivers, 18.5% in the case of electric vehicles, we pay compensation to the same drivers in remote collections and we are also the only platform operating in the national market with tax headquarters in our country”, emphasizes Bruno Borges.
The average weekly expenditure increases by 120 euros
This Thursday, the company also announced a partnership with Repsol which allows an “additional saving of 0.16 euros/litre”. In the press release sent to the editorial staff, the company specifies that with the latest events, the drivers “will go from an average weekly expenditure of 400 euros in fuel to around 520 euros (around 30% increase on average) from this week”.
On the other hand, the partners of TVDE and the drivers are calling for better conditions of activity (such as the increase in the maximum age of vehicles from the current seven years to ten years) and of work, namely remuneration, this at the when the assessment of the law in force is being prepared.
In the home delivery sector, Ubereats did not respond to questions from the PUBLIC, with Glovo indicating that in the current context of high fuel prices, it has waived the activation fee to enter the platform. The company says it has established a partnership with Repsol, which grants a 0.05 euro per liter discount to couriers, and that it is “exploring partnerships with other networks”.
“We also have a partnership with eCooltra and Wyze Mobility, allowing the rental and purchase of electric vehicles at a lower price,” explained an official company source, adding that it sends “regular communications to the couriers in order to ‘explain government measures (such as the Automatic Voucher)”. Regarding the possible impact on the amount to be paid by users of the platform, Glovo affirms that it will “lower delivery prices in a transversal way, in the more than 90 cities” in which it operates.
