By the end of July all American cities, not just in Seattle, Houston and Minneapolis, in the mobile app Uber will be given an option to tip. Quite a long time to achieve as the drivers themselves together in guilds and signing petitions, and municipal authorities, for example, the new York Agency Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC).
But the company had its own arguments against the introduction of such options, including, raising the total cost of travel and the fear that drivers will spend more time in wealthy areas, and customers with a bias can leave some categories of taxi drivers significantly less in tipsthan their colleagues from more privileged social groups.
However, the company decided to give way, declaring on its website that it has heard of the drivers: “You’ve told us what you want, and the time has come when we take a step forward and will give you the kind of driving experience you deserve, because Uber simply would not exist without you.”
A function of the tip will be just one of the innovations that Uber promises to enter each month for the next six months. What kind of changes will affect the drivers – is unknown, but the company claims that driving will become “more flexible and less stressful”.
How will work this feature? After the trip, the application usually asks the passenger to rate the driver and offer him to leave a tip. The client will be able to do this in two ways: either choose one of three tip amounts suggested by the program, or enter a different amount at its discretion.
Agency represents the TLC, Allan Fromberg said: “We are pleased that Uber appears to be fully adopted rules, recently proposed by us, and which, among other things, will require that gratuities in the application was not subject to discussion.”
It is noteworthy that the company announced its 180-day cycle of change a few days later, after the CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick, has resigned.
