A recent examination of Uber’s fare pricing algorithm by Rishabh Singh, a Delhi entrepreneur and founder of engineerHUB, has unveiled potential disparities in fare calculations. Singh conducted a methodical experiment comparing ride fares across different devices and battery levels, sharing his findings on a social media platform. Here are all of the important details that he shared about the mini-experiment he conducted and why the findings might be concerning for the users of the ride-sharing app.
Delhi Man Conducts Experiment On Uber Fare Pricing
According to the series of posts Singh made on X (formerly known as Twitter), the experiment involved testing identical journey requests simultaneously on four devices. Two of these were Android phones and two were iPhones.
They were all linked to the same Uber account. Singh’s findings revealed two significant patterns. Firstly, there were notable variations in pricing between Android and iOS platforms, with promotional discounts appearing inconsistently across devices.
Some users received offers of “13 per cent off” or “50 per cent off” whilst others were shown standard rates for the same journey. Perhaps more intriguingly, Singh discovered a correlation between device battery levels and fare prices.
Does Your Phone Battery Affect The Cost Of Your Cab?
His research suggested that phones with lower battery levels consistently displayed higher fares compared to fully charged devices. This observation led him to hypothesise that Uber’s algorithm might be employing behavioural economics principles.
It might potentially be exploiting users’ urgency when their devices are running low on power. Singh argues that these findings raise serious questions about the transparency and ethics of ride-hailing services’ pricing mechanisms.
He suggests that the algorithm might be considering device-specific metadata or conducting A/B testing across different platforms, leading to varying fare structures for identical journeys. The revelation has sparked considerable debate on social media, with users expressing concern about the fairness of such practices.
Have you ever noticed any of these findings when you’ve tried to book a cab? Let us know in the comments section below!
Cover Image Credits: @merishabh_singh/X (Formerly, Twitter)
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