Uber Eats drivers starved of business in lockdown level three
Uber Eats drivers are struggling, after the prime minister publicly encouraged New Zealanders to deliver directly from restaurants.
The ride-sharing app resumed its food delivery app Uber Eats on Tuesday, but drivers said they had barely noticed a difference in business from level four.
Last week Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern encouraged New Zealanders to have takeaways delivered from businesses directly rather than from Uber Eats because of the app’s high commission rates.
Wellington driver Sanjesh Lallu said Ardern’s comments had affected business, with fewer delivery orders coming through the app.
Lallu said although fast food giants McDonald’s and Burger King used the platforms, the long drivethrough queues meant drivers were making as little as $5 after an hour’s wait. Lallu said before the lockdown Uber Eats drivers typically earned about $20 an hour.
Another Uber driver, Sean Neal, said since Tuesday he had only received two passenger pick-ups and four delivery requests.
‘‘Certainly not finding it sustainable at the moment,’’ Neal said. ‘‘Also unfortunately when the Government said don’t use Uber Eats they clearly weren’t thinking about the actual drivers that also need to make a living.’’
Christchurch-based Uber driver Rrupin Tanejaa said he had been looking forward to more work under level three but made $5 in three hours.
‘‘Tuesday morning started off busy but by lunchtime it slowed down. It’s been like that ever since,’’ Tanejaa said. ‘‘It’s a tough situation for us.’’
Tanejaa said he was supportive of Ardern’s comments and felt Uber needed to reduce its commission fee of 30-35 per cent for restaurants but also reduce its commission rate of 28-30 per cent for its drivers.
‘‘The wage subsidy will only cover about a month’s worth of expenses. I don’t have any stable income coming in.’’
Uber said it was providing financial assistance for drivers diagnosed with Covid-19, or personally placed in quarantine by a public health authority due to risk of spreading the virus. The company also said it was reimbursing drivers taking frequent trips on the platform up to $20 for the purchase of hand sanitiser and car disinfectant. But Lallu said this did not go far enough.
‘‘Some drivers say they were told about refunds for hand sanitiser if they bought, but I and a number of drivers I spoke to didn’t receive any messages.’’
Lallu expected things would get busier once the universities were open again, or when the country felt more confident to move around.
Another Wellington driver,
Amanda High, said there was no point going out as on Wednesday she had made only $6.30 through an Uber Eats delivery that took 40 minutes.
Drivers also had Logmate fees deducted from their pay, High said. Drivers must use the Logmate app to record their work time, but many had forgotten to put theirs on hold during the lockdown, High said.
‘‘It’s $6.49 a month. They would I assume expect us to contact them to put it on hold. To be honest I forgot about the fee so hadn’t tried. Only saw the deduction when I started working,’’ High said.