Uber extends services to Kumasi

Uber, a technology company in the transport business, has introduced a GPS-based mobile application where commuters can track and access a vehicle at the comfort of their location for a fee.

Briefing the media at the launch of the mobile application in Kumasi after a similar one in Accra, the General Manager for South Sahara Africa, Mr Alon Lits, said with the application, commuters could actually see the movement of the car on their phones until they got to their location.

The service, which is now common around the world, was introduced in San Francisco in the USA in 2010 to improve the security of commuters.

Currently, 600 cities with one million drivers are benefitting from the service which helps to grow local entrepreneurs.

The fares are calculated per kilometre and are fixed and cannot be bargained but it guarantees the safety and comfort of passengers.

The drivers earn 75 per cent of the charge on each passenger, while UBER takes 25 per cent.

Before the partnership is formed, UBER is expected to take the drivers who register with their own cars through training and customer service and how the application works.

The company has the capacity to monitor and take off or expunge the names of rude and non-compliant drivers from its system.

Mr Lits said the system was to ensure increase in sales of drivers some of whom drive their cars empty while looking for passengers.