Uber takes cash in Brazil, and apparently “Uber drivers worldwide can’t see where they’re going before they accept a ride.”
Driver murders prompt Uber to tighten security in Brazil.A tenfold increase in crime shows the risk of cash payments.
Uber India launched cash payments in 2015 and the company has since expanded to South America, but there has been a dark side: crime. At least six drivers in Brazil have been murdered and robberies are up tenfold since the cash service launched there in July of 2016. Following protests and a Reuters inquiry, the company has instituted a new policy requiring Brazil’s cash users to register with a social security number.
Passengers have been able to open fake accounts, request rides to bad neighborhoods and rob drivers with relative impunity. In one incident, a teenage couple stabbed 52-year-old driver Modolo Filho and stole his SUV, leaving him to die on the road. They’ve since been charged with murder.
Drivers are now allowed to opt out of cash payments. Unless all opt out, expect more crime.
