UberSELECT, Uber Kenya’s premium option is going to be scrapped, according to the company.
UberSELECT was introduced in Nairobi in October 2017 as a ‘premium’ option for Uber users in Kenya. It involved having high rated drives with pre-selected vehicles that are guaranteed to offer a great experience to its users. The service even had a small price premium above the normal UberX.
The other bit of news is that Uber will become more expensive. Effective Monday 26th August 2019, Uber will jack their prices by 29% for both Uber X and UberCHAPCHAP riders.
Uber X and UberCHAPCHAP base fares will remain at Kshs 85 and Kshs 80 respectively. However, the minimum fare for Uber X and UberCHAPCHAP will be Kshs 200 and Kshs 150 respectively.
UberCHAPCHAP cars will pay 25% commission on their first 15 weekly trips and 3% on remaining trips. UberCHAPCHAP will still charge Kshs 4 per minute but the interesting bit is that that will rise exponentially to Kshs 12 per minute if the trip exceeds 11 kilometers. UberCHAPCHAP’s geofence is usually lifted at night to go for longer distances, so this means it may not be a good option to use it due to the new tariffs.
This rates will increase the Uber partners where the company says that expect an average increase of 26% for UberX trips and 13% for UberCHAPCHAP trips. The new model also doesn’t allow switching between the two categories like before.
This new model seems like Uber is trying to kill two birds with one stone. First, they get rid of UberSELECT which seems like it wasn’t that popular. Second, they get to appease their ride partners with increased revenue to counteract the high operation costs.
So brace yourselves for more expensive Uber rides next week!
