Uber reportedly charging higher fares from users struggling with low battery life

Imagine trying to book an Ola or Uber in the middle of the night or at a location where public transport isn't available easily, and the phone's battery runs out. Days marred by heavy rains and rush hours plagued by traffic may be a crisis for commuters, but it creates an opportunity for cab aggregators to apply surge pricing.

According to reports, commuters in Belgium have noticed that Uber has been charging higher rates, whenever it senses low battery on smartphones.

Charge your phones to avoid being overcharged

• After Uber users in Brussels found that they are having to pay different fares for the same journey, they spotted a pattern where prices go up when battery levels drop.

• The observation was published by a local news organisation, which conducted a survey among Uber customers in the Belgian capital.

Uber maintains stance on surge pricing

• On the other hand, Uber has denied any correlation between the prices and battery life.

• The platform has maintained that it only raises prices for trips based on the number of requests against the availability of drivers in a particular locality.

• In India, Uber has already been penalised once for surge pricing, and the consumer rights watchdog has also taken note of complaints against higher rates and cancellations by Ola and Uber.