Uber places an additional surcharge on all trips to and from South Africa’s airports, adding up to R56 to the quoted price whenever a person orders a ride.
This was confirmed by MyBroadband, following complaints from an Uber customer that realised they were charged both an “airport surcharge” and a “Lanseria Airport surcharge” for their trip coming home from the terminal.
Unexpected travel costs
Along with a copy of their receipt, the Uber rider said they were initially quoted a charge of R179 for the ride from the airport to their destination in Douglasdale, but after the trip was completed, they noticed they were charged a total of R209.
Quoted in the final price of the trip were two additional surcharges that weren’t present on the first quote – a R10 general airport surcharge, and a R20 surcharge specific to Lanseria Airport.
The reader said that a similar charge was filed on their return trip a few days later, where their initial R215 bill was swapped out with a R235 one. Interestingly, this time the user was only charged the R20 Lanseria fee, and not the R10 general airport fee.
Uber Lanseria airport receipt. Source: MyBroadband
Uber’s explanation
According to Uber’s official website, the company places a $3.15 surcharge on all pickups and drop-offs from airports, including Lanseria, OR Tambo International, and Cape Town International, which works out to roughly R56 at the current exchange rate.
“This airport charges a $3.15 fee for all TNC pickups and drop-offs. This fee is in addition to the $1.55 (R27.81) booking fee and is charged directly to the rider,” said the company.
However, neither of these quoted figures matches the R30 and R10 fees experienced by the customer, and it also raises the issue of whether or not Uber is misleading consumers by tacking on additional charges after the person has already accepted a ride.
While hailing services do have variable rates based on things like distance, time, and traffic, it is not difficult to argue that not disclosing a supposedly fixed airport surcharge up-front is misleading to the consumer.
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