Uber Fraud or a bug in the App?

It was a personal observation today that an Uber driver cancelled my  scheduled trip and still the amount was immediately debited to by Paytm account.

I later found out that this experience has been observed by many others who have reported it on Twitter.

I suppose Uber will refund the payment. But there appears to be a larger issue here.

It is observed that the Uber app shows the trip map where the vehicle has not moved out from its location and the time of debit was the time supposed to be at the start of the trip. Both these should have been recognized by the app to conclude that the trip did not take place and hence the debit should not have arisen.

Alternatively, it is suspected that this is not merely a bug in the App but could be a fraud indulged in by some drivers. If the app can be used to debit an amount  X without the trip having been undertaken, it is possible that it can debit any other amount and at any other time from the linked PayTm account. When there is an immediate debit after the driver’s cancellation, we may observe the debit and report it for refund. But if the debit is made after some time, it is possible that the users may not observe the unauthorized debit.

Further if the app has a bug which can raise a debit for a trip which has not taken place, it can perhaps be also used for altering the amount of debit.

Hence this bug indicates the possibility of a serious fraud.

At the same time, I also point out that Paytm debit note did not have a provision for immediate indication of an unauthorized transaction as is required under the RBI rules.

PayTm should check and introduce the change in their SMS notification as required under the Limited Liability Guideline.

I am waiting for a response from Uber and Paytm in this regard and later would take it up with RBI.

Any body else with similar experience may kindly inform.

Naavi

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2 Responses to Uber Fraud or a bug in the App?

  1. I had a similar experience. I reported to Uber. They refunded and is a credit in my account, but the bug is : when I try to book a new trip, the message is ” There is an old pending amount” which the app does not allow you to clear ( square off with the old credit balance) nor allows a fresh booking

  2. I work as a Uber eats driver and we don’t get paid for long distance pickups as promised , sometimes we have to go 5-6km and we don’t get paid for that, each time when we raise a issue in the app, they tell us to go near office which is not possible . And many a times we people let it go as we don’t want to travel 12-13 km just to ask 20-23 rs. But on a serious note this is a huge amount when we calculate for 2-3 trips a day , it would be no less than 2k. And large number of delivery executives all over India which makes million I guess. We have to note each order number and pickup drop point so that we can register this in office and raise a issue. But Uber is so smart that after the trip it doesn’t not show us order I’d, exact pickup and drop place , it only shows area name , which means that we cannot prove our point inside or outside Uber even if we wish to . And yes, we also cannot go against such faints.. (gldgd97@gmail.com)

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