Uber suspends surge pricing during disruption

With the massive MRT breakdown sending droves of commuters trying to get cabs, third-party car booking app Uber suspended its surge pricing last night “to help commuters get home easily”.

The company’s website says surge pricing is a mechanism that increases fares for its services when demand is high, encouraging more drivers to take up bookings. Users will see a notification on the app whenever there is surge pricing, and will have to accept those higher rates before they are connected to a driver.

Some Uber users, however, were capitalising on the MRT breakdown for their own gain.

On Twitter, several people tried to mislead others into thinking that Uber was giving out S$20 in credit when they were instead trying to gain referral credits for themselves. Under an ongoing promotion, users can get one free ride, capped at S$20, for every friend they refer to use Uber’s services.