How to know surge pricing in Uber

Till a few days ago, you could see the rates in the Uber app before traveling and ‘surge’ pricing was also disclosed. This means that before booking the ride, you would know how much more you would have to pay for that journey than the normal fare. But due to surge pricing, the popularity of this app gradually started decreasing. Many politicians also opposed surge pricing.

After this, Uber decided to cancel surge pricing. Later, for the convenience of customers, the Upfront Fare feature was introduced so that customers know how much they will have to pay for the journey. Although prices are still increased when demand is high, the new format does not give customers much clarity about actual surge pricing.

If you regularly travel on a particular route, surge pricing will not escape you. For example, if you frequently pay Rs 100 and see the estimated fare being Rs 300 on any given day, you probably won’t take a cab. But what will you do if you are traveling on an unknown route? Does the estimated fare you see include surge pricing? How will you know about it? The way to know about all these things is very easy.

1. Open Google Maps and enter the name of your destination.
2. Now tap on the corner on the right to inquire about taxis.

You will start seeing taxi options of Uber and Ola. Information about surge pricing will also be available along with these. We tested it recently and found that it really works. As you will see in the screenshot below, Uber quoted the price of the ride as Rs 192. Meanwhile, Google Maps revealed surge pricing of 1.5 times and the estimated fare was around Rs 200-240. After reaching the destination, we found that Uber’s bill mentioned surge pricing of 1.4 times. Google’s estimate was also around this.

This method is not 100 percent accurate, but if you want to know whether you are paying a fair fare for the journey or not, then it will prove beneficial for you.