Uber South Africa: All You Need To Know

As a South African with information, you must have heard one or two things about Uber South Africa. Inhabitants of rural areas might not know anything about Uber South Africa but many residents of South Africa’s metropolitan cities (such as Cape Town and Durban) have one or more details about the operations of Uber South Africa.

For the fact that you’re a passenger who needs quality riding services, I guess this article will suit you best and provide you all the details you should know about Uber South Africa. Uber’s riding services are currently being enjoyed by some residents of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Durban.

As you read this article further, you will find out the convenient ways through which you can request riding services from Uber South Africa. Also, you will be shown how to register as a partner of Uber South Africa and make cool cash as a private uber driver.

To give you an awesome customer experience, Uber South Africa also makes use of a mobile app which serves as a communication medium between passengers and drivers. Uber South Africa guarantees quality services through the Uber app. If you’re interested in enjoying the riding services offered by Uber South Africa, you first have to download the Uber mobile app to your smartphone. It’s quite easy to get Uber apps downloaded to your smartphone.

For a Windows device, you can visit Microsoft Windows Store to download Uber apps. For an iOS device, you can visit Apple Store to download Uber apps and on several other smartphones, you can visit the Google Play store to get Uber apps downloaded.

What is Uber South Africa All About?

As a prominent company headquartered in San Francisco, Uber came into existence in 2009. Over the years, Uber has remained an international company providing riding services across countries. Notably, the company has a number of international subsidiaries with Uber South Africa being its subsidiary in South Africa.

In South Africa, Uber services are best enjoyed by the residents of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, and Durban. In some of South Africa’s major cities, there are a lot of Uber cars taking passengers around urban locations. Although they are tagged with the word “Uber’’, it is important to clarify that not all these cars are owned by Uber.

In that case, Uber is just a riding platform that establishes a reliable connection between private drivers and passengers who are only a few kilometers away from each other. If you’re a Johannesburg resident, you can be connected with an Uber driver in Johannesburg so that you can have a safe, convenient and trustworthy driving experience.

How Does Uber South Africa Perform its Riding Operations?

As implied previously, Uber South Africa is an advanced platform that links passengers with drivers through smartphone apps. Through Uber apps, passengers get the opportunity to request for riding services. However, these riding requests can’t be made until passengers have been registered to enjoy the services of Uber South Africa. Then how do you get started as a registered Uber passenger?

It is very easy to become an Uber passenger but first and foremost, you must have downloaded the Uber app to your iPhone, Android or Windows-enabled phone. With the download successful, the next procedure is to create an account with Uber. Through this account, you will have the privilege to pay for Uber riding services as you enjoy them.

The steps for creating the account are straightforward. Whether it is in South Africa or somewhere else, Uber requires you to provide personal details including your name, your phone number, your email address and the details of your credit card.

How to use the Uber App

Steps on How to Use Uber Services in South Africa

• Provide the Details of Your Destination and Location

As a technology-intensive platform, Uber South Africa makes use of Google Maps to find out passengers’ locations. By providing the details of your location, Uber can easily find you and connect you with a nearby Uber driver.

In another way, you may provide your residential address and to make things convenient for you, Google Maps help you find the nearest Uber car. On Google Maps, the Uber cars within your location will be vividly displayed for you to watch and decide which one is nearest to you.

• Choose Your Preferred Uber Car

Uber South Africa has a variety of rides and each ride has a specified price tag. Also, each ride has the specified number of passengers it can accommodate. To ensure you get the actual thing you desire, it is advisable that you obtain detailed information about Uber’s ride options before you decide on the one that befits you. Through this information, you will find out the number of passengers specified for a certain ride and the charges you’re likely to pay.

Also, you get to find out the approximate time it will take the Uber car to arrive at your location. Endeavor to explore this information as it may help you in deciding the appropriate option between Uber’s rides.

• Contact an Uber Driver

Uber South Africa makes it convenient for passengers to get in touch with Uber drivers. In that case, you will be given the approximate time an Uber driver is scheduled to arrive at your location. For effective communication, Uber South Africa will give you the phone number through which you can contact your driver.

• Choose Your Preferred Payment Method

For your riding services, you can decide on the payment method you wish to use. If you prefer to use your credit card as the payment method, you won’t need to pay your driver for business rides. In that case, your credit card will be linked to your Uber rides and the charges will be deducted from your account. If, on the other hand, you don’t prefer to use the card option, you can pay for your Uber rides in the form of cash.

• Monitor Your Charges after Each Ride

You’re strongly encouraged to monitor your charges after each ride. By doing this, you will be able to avoid cases of excess charges. Anybody can be prone to be overcharged for rides and this is why you should endeavor to confirm your fare after each ride.

• Split the Cost of Your Uber Ride

Interestingly, you can reduce the actual cost of your Uber ride especially if your journey coincides with that of another Uber passenger. Luckily, you and another Uber user (probably somebody who is familiar with you) may have plans to leave for the same destination at the same time. And if this happens, you have the grace to negotiate to split the price so that you alone don’t bear the entire cost.

Becoming an Uber South Africa Partner

You can register as an Uber partner in a number of ways. Basically, you can attempt the registration as:

• A car/vehicle owner who is interested in working as a driver
• A driver who has no access to a car/vehicle
• A car/vehicle owner who wishes to employ another as a driver

In order to attempt Uber registration through the status of a vehicle owner who is interested in driving or as a vehicle owner who wishes to employ a driver, you’re required to produce the scanned copies of the documents listed below:

• Your driving license –for the purpose of identification
• A 2007 or newer car model (This car must be in working order and you’re expected to provide it for an inspection Uber will conduct on it)
• Authentic vehicle clearance papers (provided by a vehicle inspection agency)
• Your valid vehicle insurance document (provided by a third-party agency)

After providing the details above, you can then proceed with the online registration as an Uber partner by simply visiting this link Here

Then Uber requires you to choose the category you belong to as an Uber partner. In that case, you will be provided with three categories namely (i) Driving, (ii) Vehicle Owner, Driving and (iii) Vehicle Owner, Not Driving

Also, below are the details you should have at your disposal:

• Your full name as seen in the account
• Bank code
• Tax Identification Number
• The Swift Code of your bank branch (You can make an inquiry from your bank branch)
• Your account number

Driver Details And Requirements

To be a driver under the Uber system, you must be an experienced driver with an acceptable driving record. If you think you’re up to the task, check the driver details and requirements below:

• A valid driving license (with the minimum of 90 days before the expiry date)
• Driver must provide two passport photographs
• Driver must be free from criminal record
• Driver must submit the details of his previous employer
• Before any driver can be accepted, Uber must have conducted a thorough examination of his background details
• Driver must be able to provide a full and valid residential address
• Every driver must produce the details of two competent guarantors

How to drive with Uber in South Africa

1. Sign up online

Got an email address and a smartphone? Great, now tell us a bit more about yourself and we’ll get you started.

2. Upload your documents

Time for some paperwork. There are some of the documents we need to see:

• A valid South African Professional driving permit (PrDP)
• Complete a safety screening
• Pass a driving evaluation
• You have to be a minimum of 21 years of age
• Provide a driver profile photo
  • Must be a forward-facing, centered photo including the driver’s full face and top of shoulders, with no sunglasses
  • Must be a photo only of the driver with no other subject in the frame, well-lit, and in focus. It cannot be a driver’s license photo or other printed photograph

3. Get a vehicle

Please note all vehicles are activated through a priority process. You may not sell, rent or transfer your Uber profile or “slot” / “software license”, as this is against Uber Partnership Terms and Conditions.

4. Activate your account

If you’ve completed all the above steps, congratulations! You’re ready to activate your account and start making money.

Uber South Africa Vehicle Requirements

Uber South Africa is a high-intensive riding platform that conforms to quality standards. As regards this, not all South African vehicles can be qualified for Uber’s riding services. Here, we take a look at the standards which qualify a vehicle for Uber’s riding business.

• The model year 2013 or newer
• 4-door sedan or minivan
• Good condition with no cosmetic damage
• No hatchbacks accepted

Documentation Needed

• Operators Card (Double disk)
• Commercial vehicle insurance
• Vehicle inspection in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth or Durban
• Vehicle certificate of registration
• Operating License from the department of transport in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Port Elizabeth

That’s all about Uber South Africa.

References:

• Uber.com
• NaijaQuest.com