Drivers working at Uber in South Africa earn less for every trip than they do those who work for Taxify, but Uber says it makes up for that in other ways.
For every trip, Taxify takes 15% of the fee charged via its platform, numbers it provided shows. Uber, on the other hand, takes a standard service fee of 25% per trip booked, it told Business Insider South Africa. That makes it a R1,000 difference in earnings for every R10,000 worth of trips.
Uber’s charge is used to cover the cost of running its application, Uber South Africa’s spokesperson Samantha Allenberg said.
“It pays for the continuous improving of the app in order for it to be seamless and efficient for riders and drivers so that we can market to riders and continue to create economic opportunities for the people of South Africa,” Allenberg said.
But Uber offers additional incentives such as fuel rebates, cell phone packages, and health care to drivers, she said, which reduce their expenses.
The company is also in the process of increasing its tiered service fee for drivers which will mean the more trips a driver completed, and the higher their rating, the lower their weekly Uber service fee, Allenberg said.
Taxify said it believes in having narrow margins, because it aims to give drivers the most sustainable income possible.
It recently became the first e-hailing service to expand to East-London and Polokwane.
“We are a driver-focused company. So, when we considered expanding our service we wanted to make sure that the demand is high enough to make sure drivers make the most amount of money,” Gareth Taylor, manager for Taxify in South Africa, told Business Insider South Africa.
“We believe that when our drivers are looked after, our customers are looked after.”
According to data from App Annie, Uber has roughly 5.3 million users in South Africa compared to Taxify’s 2.1 million.
This means Uber controls an estimated 71% of the South African market, followed by Taxify with 28%.
