Last month, we announced “Driver Forward” – an initiative aimed at improving the overall experience for driver-partners. We introduced a suite of initiatives, tools and app features to improve flexibility while they are on the road, based on valuable feedback we received from our driver community. So far, we’ve received an enormous amount of positive feedback – but this is just the start.

We’ve also heard our support can be impersonal and slow to respond. Driver-partners told us better support and fairer policies would go a long way towards improving their experience. We’ve also received suggestions about introducing benefits that make them feel appreciated. This is why we’re excited to announce our second chapter of our Driver Forward Campaign – “Experience”.

Today, we are rolling out 10 enhancements to improve customer support and offer a better overall Uber experience for all driver-partners.

BETTER DRIVING EXPERIENCE

We want to show appreciation to our driver-partners by introducing features that would make their experience on our platform more enjoyable.

  1. Stay safe with “Share my Trip”

It’s important to feel safe on the road – and sometimes knowing there’s someone at home who knows where they are makes all the difference. We are rolling our “Share my trip” feature to 100% of driver-partners starting this week. Driver-partners can now let their loved ones know where they are at any time with a simple tap of a button.

2.  Improved ERP toll detection

We understand from driver-partners there are occasions where tolls charges are miscounted or excluded from the drivers’ fares, and these situations can be frustrating. We’ve been working closely with our team to identify the issue and have since ensured tolls are more accurately reflected. By improving the experience, we are already seeing a significant reduction in toll-related support tickets.

BETTER SUPPORT EXPERIENCE

We want to resolve questions efficiently and ensure driver-partners feel they’ve been treated fairly.

  1. Extended UberHUB Support

UberHUB will extend its opening hours to Saturdays, 10am – 6pm to cater to new driver-partners who are unable to visit during weekdays or prefer face to face interaction with our support team.

  1. Priority Support

We understand that getting timely support largely affects their driving experience with Uber. Loyal driver-partners will now have priority support across all channels including our in-app help, phone support and UberHUB. Driver-partners who meet certain criteria (lifetime trip count and weekly trip count) will be eligible for this.

  1. 24/7 Phone Support

We are ramping up our 24/7 phone support with more trained agents to resolve questions more efficiently and effectively. Our goal is to be there for driver-partners whenever, wherever they need us.

BETTER POLICIES

We are continuously reviewing and improving our existing policies to ensure driver-partners have the best driving experience.

  1. $10 Lost & Found Policy

On average, driver-partners in Singapore return around 28,000 lost items a year. That’s a lot of time spent on the road and not earning. Starting today, driver-partners will now receive $10 for every item they return directly to their rider. 

  1. $75 reimbursement for Cleaning Fee

We are introducing a more lenient cleaning fee policy after receiving feedback from driver-partners that our policies were too restrictive and unreasonable. The new policy entirely eliminates the need for receipts and we will reimburse up to $75 for uberX and $150 for UberEXEC as long as photo evidence is provided.

  1. More flexible terms for Cancellation Fee  

We are offering more flexibility to the revamped Cancellation Fee policy. Driver-partners will receive the cancellation fee as long as they arrive within ETA and the rider cancels after 5 minutes, or when it is out of their control. For example, if there are more than 4 passengers or if a rider with a child accidentally requests uberX instead of Uber Car Seat, driver-partners are eligible to receive the cancellation amount.

  1. Reimbursement of parking fee

There are occasions where driver-partners would cover parking fees on their own if they enter a parking lot with no grace period to pick up a rider. By introducing our Parking Fee policy, driver-partners are now able to get these charges reimbursed in full. 

  1. Birthday, car wash and good service benefits

We believe a small gesture can go a long way. All active driver-partners are eligible for these benefits:

  • Birthdays: Enjoy a free meal on us (up to $20*) during their birthday month
  • Car Wash discount: Enjoy $10 car wash and interior grooming packages with 10 key partners islandwide, as long as they take a minimum of 1 trip per week. To stretch their savings, we will reimburse 50% of the fee if they are submit their receipt to us.  
  • 5 Star Recognition: We celebrate driver-partners who receive 5-star ratings and provide high quality service to riders with a $50 reward.

We have more work to do to continuously offer a seamless experience driver-partners deserve. This chapter represents an exciting step forward in that effort, and we’ll be back next month with more changes designed to improve their earnings when they are on the road. We encourage driver-partners to continue submitting their feedback and suggestions at t.uber.com/suggestions4UbyU.

*Offered to driver-partners with a minimum of 100 trips within a month