Starting Monday, March 14th at 11.59pm, the Uber UK business model will change and all drivers will have to review and approve the new terms in order to be able to continue to accept rides.
In December 2021, the UK High Court ruled that all PHV operators in London are required to contract directly with passengers rather than operating as an agent between drivers and passengers.
Before, a rider requesting a trip on Uber paid their fares directly to the driver, while Uber was charging a service fee from bringing the two parties together. With this new business model, the rider will pay Uber and Uber will separately pay the rider for providing the transportation service – there will be no direct connection between rider and driver payments.
In light of these new rules, Uber will no longer use a service fee to calculate drivers’ net earnings. Instead, they will charge the rider and then pay the driver separately – which means drivers will no longer see any fee listed on the individual trip or on the offer card, but just the actual earning receipts and weekly earning statements.
Rates on the app while moving into the new model will be 25% lower as they will not include service fee, but the per mile and per minute rates will remain unchanged guaranteeing the same take-home rates. The surge in dynamic adjustments will still be applied to trips automatically and drivers will still be able to see the upfront price on the offer card before they decide to accept the trip.
Upfront pricing is still used to calculate and pay drivers’ fare but Uber has lowered the fullback thresholds for drivers – which means they will benefit from more accurate pricing when the upfront fare cannot be honoured due to changes in route or traffic.
What is changing?
Drivers will contract with Uber, not with riders;
Drivers will no longer see a service fee;
Drivers will see their actual earnings on trip breakdowns and weekly earning statements;
Rates will not include any service fee;
Uber is improving Upfront Pricing;
What is not changing?
The way drivers use the app on a day-to-day basis will remain the same;
Drivers will still have absolute control over when and where they earn;
Drivers will still have to option to drive with other operators;
Driver will continue to receive worker protections (Holiday Pay, National Living Wage and access to a Pension Scheme);
Drivers will still be paid on a weekly basis;
Uber Pro Tier Status and access to benefits will remain unchanged;
Drivers will remain self-employed and should continue to complete an annual tax return.
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