Banned In Egypt, Tipping Feature In South Africa -The Uber Anomaly
Coming out of a tumultuous week, Uber has had its license withdrawn and doors shut in Egypt after a drawn-out court ruling. However, they are not the only ones to suffer this fate. Fellow competitor Careem has also been dealt the same blow after Egypt’s Administrative Court ruled in favor of 42 taxi drivers seeking to scupper both their operating license in the North African country.
The aggrieved drivers have protested the unfair rules and regulations applied to the ride-hailing duo – a clarion call for taxi drivers left in the wake of Uber’s global surge. The premise of their disgruntlement comes from regulations stating that taxi drivers can only operate with licenses. Uber drivers are not required to pay these transport levies.
To compound the Taxi Association’s frustrations, in November 2017 Egypt’s cabinet ratified a bill that would regulate transport laws in the country allowing companies like Careem and Uber to continue doing business. The Cairo Taxi Association is against these kinds of dealings which it claims put them on the backfoot.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, Uber has just announced that passengers can now tip their drivers at the end of a trip. This feature will come as welcome news to drivers in the country and is sure to be a feature appreciated by many. This comes as the second feature to be added to the South African user experience after introducing a call back option for passengers around two weeks ago.
