Uber has been in Ghana for about two years now and yesterday they faced a huge protest from a number of their drivers.
Walking past the Trade Fair Center, Labadi, you would see quite a number of cars parked outside with a lot of people gathered in protest.
The Uber drivers had quite a number of complaints concerning how Uber Ghana was handling the business and stated that the job was increasingly becoming tougher and closing in on being a loss to them.
The drivers complained that Uber’s 25% commission was too high especially considering the fact that Uber had refused to increase charges on trips even though fuel prices had shot up three times this year.
Speaking to some of the Uber drivers, they reckoned that with they having to pay for fuel, purchase internet bundles for the management of their profiles and trips as well as Uber’s proclivity to giving customer discount promotions, the commission rate was very damaging to them especially if Uber refuses to increase the rates on trips.
The total number of drivers protesting were about 300 and they came from Accra, Tema and Kumasi.
They said that they would be withdrawing their services for two weeks until something was done about this.
However, despite their protestations and the submission of their plea to the Uber officials at the Trade Fair Center, Uber Ghana has stayed silent on the matter.
Uber West Africa on the other hand is reported to have stated that the plea submitted by the 300 protestors was not representative of the 1000 drivers currently on the platform.
They went on to say that the company’s regulations were not going to be reviewed anytime soon.
The drivers after not being heard out or given any positive feedback not only did they decide to withdraw their services from the Uber App for two weeks but also threatened to leave the platform completely in favor of rival online transport businesses.
Questions are still being raised as to whether Uber will survive in Ghana following their recent protest.
By:WinstonWotse/techvoiceafrica.com
