As a leader, sometimes you’re called on to make tough decisions. 

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had such a call to make when she revised the country’s COVID-19 Alert to the highest level, shutting down non essential businesses across the country for at least four weeks. 

In light of that decision, and with all restaurants and cafes across the country asked to close, we are temporarily pausing the Uber Eats app in New Zealand, turning off the service at 10.00pm NZDT on Wednesday, March 25. 

As a further measure, we have already switched off JUMP, temporarily suspending our micromobility network in Auckland and Wellington.

Uber’s ridesharing platform however, has been classified by the NZ Government as an essential service and will remain online for those who need to travel from A to B. We will be rolling out messages in the app to remind riders only to travel if they really need and to exercise caution for their safety and the safety of our community.

During this time we will also postpone the planned launch of Uber Eats in Palmerston North, Napier, Hastings and Rotorua. We’ve heard lots of excitement about Uber Eats in the local community, and we know we’ll see that enthusiasm once more, when the time is right.

Right now is an extremely difficult and uncharted time for the country and the health and safety of the community will always come first. 

With the temporary suspension of JUMP and the Uber Eats app, our teams will now turn their efforts to building a resilient plan to switch the apps back on when it’s appropriate, and we’ll do that in consultation with health experts and the community. 

This is only a pause. Food delivery options are an integral service for so many people. Whether that’s assisting a restaurant to provide healthy meals for people living on their own, helping a delivery partner earn extra income to support their family, or bringing friends and loved ones together to celebrate a meal. 

In earlier stages of the pandemic we announced a range of initiatives designed to support cafes and restaurants and connect them with customers. We introduced the option of daily payments to improve cash flow, contactless delivery and we removed pick up fees for restaurants. We waived onboarding costs to support new restaurants and catering businesses joining the platform, and introduced financial assistance for delivery partners. 

Importantly, we also made a pledge to provide 25,000 meals across Australia and New Zealand to frontline workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will honour this commitment when we return Uber Eats and JUMP to the community.

We will return, and during this pause we will continue to explore innovative ways to help restaurants and delivery partners as they deal with this unprecedented challenge. We have no doubt that after this period of physical isolation, our communities will rebound stronger than ever.