Uber adds fuel surcharge for non-EV fares in Australia amid petrol price rises

Uber customers in Australia will be charged an extra fee from 15 April to 8 June unless they ride in an electric vehicle. Photograph: Russell Hart/Alamy View image in fullscreen Uber customers in Australia will be charged an extra fee from 15 April to 8 June unless they ride in an electric vehicle. Photograph: Russell Hart/Alamy Uber adds fuel surcharge for non-EV fares in Australia amid petrol price rises Trips in electric vehicles will be exempt from the temporary fee of 5 cents a kilometre, rideshare firm says Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Uber customers in Australia will be charged a fuel surcharge for almost two months from Wednesday unless they ride in an electric vehicle. Trips in petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles will attract an extra fee of 5 cents a kilometre from 15 April to 8 June, Uber announced on Monday. Surcharge revenue would go straight to its drivers to cover their fuel costs, a spokesperson said. Each rider in a shared Uber Pool trip would have to pay their own surcharge. The surcharge would cover the higher costs faced by a driver paying 50 cents a litre more for fuel amid fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran, assuming a fuel economy of 10 litres per 100km for the typical trip. Battery EV trips will be exempt and can be booked through the Uber Electric option, formerly Uber Green, which excludes hybrids and non-electric cars. The move comes weeks after other rideshare and delivery companies added fuel surcharges or fuel relief payments to account for rising fuel prices, with unleaded petrol nearing 260 cents a litre at its peak in late March. DiDi, a competing rideshare company, had announced its own temporary fuel surcharge on 18 March, identical except that it has also been charged on EV DiDi trips. Uber’s temporary fee also follows permanent price hikes in March. March’s fare increases had already been planned, rather than directly responding to surging fuel prices, a spokesperson said at the time. Customers’ fares rose 6% on average, varying by time and location. Minimum fares increased and some inner-suburban trips became nearly 40% more expensive than similar outer-suburban ones under the permanent March changes, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Unleaded petrol prices had surpassed 240 cents a litre when Uber announced its permanent hike in mid-March. By Monday, when Uber announced the surcharge, unleaded cost less than 220 cents a litre in most cities. The Transport Workers’ Union (TWU), which has been collaborating with rideshare companies to offer relief for rideshare drivers, welcomed Uber’s surcharge. “Rideshare drivers have been struggling under skyrocketing fuel costs, and Uber’s actions acknowledge this with meaningful cost relief,” the union’s national secretary, Michael Kaine, said. The TWU has been in negotiations with rideshare companies over drivers’ working conditions at the Fair Work Commission. “We will continue working with Uber and other platforms towards getting fair pay and conditions in place for rideshare workers as soon as possible,” Kaine said. Meal delivery company DoorDash worked with the TWU on fuel relief payments to delivery drivers, paid by the company from 21 March until 30 April, without charging customers or businesses more. Delivery workers in cars or on motorbikes who travel at least 100km a week have been paid $2.50 for every 50km they travel each week, capped at a maximum of $25. Uber Eats has offered an identical program from 6 April for two months. Explore more on these topics Petrol prices Electric vehicles Uber Consumer affairs Cost-of-living crisis Business news Share Reuse this content