How, i wish Uber joined the Boda Boda(motor cycle taxi)business instead.
It is the latest fascination in Kampala's hectic and hideous traffic-clogged system - the benefit of being nearly fully in control of your taxi service.
Uber, the new taxi company that launched recently, seeks to change a narrative that has for long defined private car hire services in the city - creating a sense of fairness and predictability.
It all starts with the power of the phone; from ordering a cab to monitoring how far it is to the fare you pay, Uber has it all. With Uber, it pays to have a smart phone. The first step is to download the app onto your phone.
The process will require your email and phone contacts. This process does not take more than five minutes, depending on your internet speeds of course. The Uber app is just 20 megabytes, which, in monetary terms, is less than Shs 500 on all mobile phone networks in Uganda.
When you are done downloading, then you are ready to order the cab.
Forget the painful phone calls you have to make to your local taxi guy to come pick you up, and the anxiety he puts you through when he says he is about to get to you and yet he is 30 or so minutes away. Then think about the hassle of bargaining with a taxi guy to drive you for a distance that ideally should be half the fee he is asking for.
Uber has just made that stress history.
However, Uber may soon have a fight with the undisciplined Boda Boda riders (Motor Cycle Taxis) over customers.
Expect fist fights like you have seen in India among taxi drivers.
Once the Uber app is downloaded, it establishes the location of the customer and driver using the Global Positioning System (GPS). Then it provides the option of whether the cab fare will be paid by credit card or cash.
After ordering the cab, an instant notification is sent to the phone showing the location of the driver, his name, car number plate, type of car, and the time it would take him to get to you. Pure efficiency.
Uber fees depend on the kilometres covered and the time spent waiting. He notes that they charge half of what other special-hire providers ask for. Extra costs are incurred in situations a passenger chooses the route with traffic jam or makes the driver wait.
"I ask you to choose an option; we use GPS or I use alternative routes. If you allow GPS and then there is traffic jam on the route you have chosen, then we charge you a waiting fee, you are not charged if you allow the driver to choose the routes," he says.
At least Shs 200 is charged per minute for delays, waiting and traffic jam. Shs 900 is charged for every kilometre travelled and Shs 1,300 is the base fee.
For one to make it as a Uber driver, he must have undergone defensive driving training, be fluent in English and must have gone through a background check, which is done by the International Police (Interpol).
Uber works with law enforcement organisations and helps them gather evidence in cases of complaints from clients.
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