UberEATS under fire after changing how it pays couriers
Toronto's a food delivery service hub. If you don't feel like cooking or leaving your apartment to grab a meal, you can easily get one delivered right to your doorstep. But there's one popular delivery service attracting a bit of controversity today.
On the r/Toronto subreddit, one Redditor posted that UberEATS was slashing payments for its couriers (or "partners") by 30 to 50 per cent.
The thread gained substantial traction on Reddit as well as on other social media sites.
According to the Redditor, here's how payments are changing.
Old UberEATS payout terms: Time = $0 per km Distance = $1.80 per KM -35% Uber deduction Flat rate = $6.50 - 35% Uber deduction
New UberEATS payout terms: Time = $0 per km Distance = $1.05 per KM - 35% Uber deduction Pickup = $2.90 - 35% Uber deduction Drop off = $2.50 - 35% Uber deduction
The Redditor continues:
"Effectively if you as a partner got two delivery orders at one restaurant, you would be paid a flat rate fee each of them. Now you are only paid ONE pickup fee. That is a major part of the pay going down. Multiple pickups are common and it actually ends up costing customers time. Think of it like UberPool. I pick up two orders, I get told to dropoff whichever one is closest, and the second order arrives late and cold. So the general fee that someone can earn has gone down from $6.50 to $5.40 a reduction of about 16%.
"The amount you are paid for distance has gone down from $1.80/km to $1.05/km a reduction of more than 40%. Once you do the math over a whole bunch of orders and factoring in the losses from no longer getting paid for double orders it's about a 30-50% pay cut."
In a statement to the Canadian tech website BetaKit, Uber Canada confirmed it was introducing a new delivery fee boost system for UberEATS, writing that delivery fees are made up of three parts: a pickup fee, a drop off fee and distance fees.
"Uber will be introducing a ‘Boost’ function, which will see delivery partners’ fares multiply depending on when or where they deliver; when an Uber driver picks up an order at a restaurant, they receive a boost multiple for the zone that the restaurant is in," reads the statement. "Uber ridesharing services won’t be affected by the changes."
Photos showing purported UberEATS couriers standing outside of Uber's Toronto headquarters holding cardboard signs that say "Uber Cheats" have surfaced on Twitter. As Global News reports, some drivers are staging a small protest outside of the Adelaide Street West building.
Uber Eats drivers in #Toronto protest; say company has slashed their earnings overnight. Say service will suffer. pic.twitter.com/HNMfCOlOk0
— Seán O'SheaGLOBALTV (@ConsumerSOS) November 29, 2016
We've reached out to Uber for comment, but at press time, have yet to hear back.
These reported changes come at a time when the food delivery market in Toronto is undergoing a bit of a shake up. Earlier this year, UberEATS stopped its instant delivery service and Feast - the independent fresh meal delivery company - pivoted and will soon offer its food in vending machines instead of bringing it directly to its customers.
