Uber drivers can make over R3000 profit a week, but there is another lucrative side of the e-hailing business that no one is talking about.
An Uber slot which allows a person to register their vehicle for the service can be sold for up to R30 000.
Although this is fraudulent, it is happening publicly on Facebook where drivers sell or rent out their slots and profiles.
A driver tells the Daily Voice that drivers blocked by Uber are usually the ones who buy or rent slots.
“When a driver has been blocked for failing to adhere to Uber rules they will buy or rent another person’s profile,” says the man.
“Only Uber can stop this from happening, but we are working perfectly without any difficulties as we are not tampering with anything.
“It’s like a person giving me their Facebook profile to use.”
FRAUD: Uber strictly prohibits renting and selling
The danger of this is that the public may end up with drivers not matching their app profile.
Asemahle Madiki says she was once a victim of this scam: “I was scared because the driver was not the person I requested, but I got in as the distance was not that long.”
If something was to happen to Asemahle, tracking the bogus driver would have been extremely difficult.
Uber spokesperson Samantha Fuller says selling and renting profiles is illegal.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy towards slot sharing as it is in clear violation of our community guidelines and undermines the trust in which Uber.
“Any profile which is flagged for violating the software license policy by sharing slots will be deactivated.
“Uber has in place strict onboarding measures for drivers to follow before they are able to use the Uber app.”
POLICY: Uber's Samantha Fuller
She says the app has a help mode where people can report the sale of slots which will result in deactivation.
City of Cape Town Traffic Services spokesperson Maxine Bezuidenhout Service says they have made arrests of taxi drivers with fraudulent papers, but their records does not have a separate category for e-hailing drivers.