U.S.-based car hailing app Uber on Thursday unfroze the accounts of a majority of the approximately 100 drivers in Beijing who had allegedly cheated the company by claiming unjustified subsidies, Beijing Morning Post reported Friday.
Earlier, the paper had reported that some Uber drivers had falsified car-hailing trips to cheat the company. A "passenger" hails the car and at the end of the "trip", which does not occur in reality, the "passenger" pays the bill while the driver returns the fare to the "passenger" after securing a subsidy from Uber.
The "passenger" can be an acquaintance of the driver's or even from an illegal service provider found on Taobao, a popular online shopping site, according to the paper.
A Bloomberg report said this week that Uber is investing in the Chinese market at a breakneck rate, paying its drivers bonuses up to three times the amount of the fares they collect. Dishonest drivers and shrewd vendors are sensing business opportunities in light of the announcement.
Some drivers say loopholes in Uber's system have been taken advantage of by dishonest drivers, the paper reported. But the system can also sometimes wrongly catch honest drivers, and in such cases they could make an appeal to the company.
Uber said Thursday that drivers whose accounts have been unfrozen will receive their pay and bonuses by next Friday. The company will communicate with the other drivers whose accounts remain locked, it was added.
The company told the paper that it has perfect anti-fraud systems, technologies and experience, as well as a specialized anti-cheating task force, to ensure accurate and fair judgment.
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