Uber Kenya will start masking phone numbers of drivers and riders

Science & Technology
1

We’re pleased to announce the introduction of Phone Anonymisation in Kenya – a new feature designed to improve the way riders and drivers communicate. What does this mean? Now, when a rider and driver contact each other regarding a trip, both phone numbers will be anonymised – meaning that you will no longer see each other’s personal contact details.

You can expect to see a few changes:

[ul]
[li]When calling or receiving a call from a driver/rider, the number may appear as a landline number.[/li][li]If you’re a frequent rider, you may notice the same anonymised number used for different drivers.[/li][/ul]

https://www.uber.com/en-KE/blog/increased-privacy-in-kenya/

2

Should have been done on day one.

They should even discourage cash tips. I’m favor of more secure tipping methods.

3

Uber as a biz was great when it started and expectations were modest. The car owner probably recruited a driver on a salary and commission. Later the driver saw that the owner makes +60,000 a month to 100000 and he earns 20000 as salary and 10000 as commission. Being us, greed and ambition couldn’t allow that any more as drivers wants a 50/50 split. The driver wants to earn as much as the car owner. Its not possible since all repairs and car maintenance is the owner to pay for. That was the genesis of the fake software that increases fare and other ukora that showed up in Uber. Worse was when Little ride and Taxify showed up and a price war started. Earnings dipped and the driver/owner rivalries increased. Then the last straw was a lot of players flooded the market especially car sales yards leased out their vehicles rather than letting them sit around parked in the yard. Now they have a cartel and they are pushing for rates increase to the detriment of users.

4

Uber business model is not sustainable in a poor country where the driver is not the owner of the vehicle. The model works best when the driver is also the owner hence can improve customer service and make a good wage

5

It only works for drivers when they have a second job and Uber is just a part time hustle to help with the bills.

6

This is the cause of endless conflict between drivers and partners since the driver cannot meet the obligations of agreed amount. Uber concept is only viable for an owner driver.

7

They are just largely safeguarding their revenue in the name of privacy. Clever way to make sure that next time you need an uber you do not directly just call the driver and thus cutting them out on fees