Uber will now kick off riders with low ratings

Image: Uber

Uber drivers with low ratings can get deactivated from the Uber platform. Now, passengers who consistently get well below a five-star rating will get the same treatment. 

This feature already rolled out in Australia, New Zealand, and India, and now passengers in the U.S. and Canada need to think more about how they act as ride-share users. As part of an effort to make rides safer and more respectful, starting Wednesday unruly passengers can lose access to the Uber app.

It varies from city to city, but just like drivers, if riders fall below an average minimum rating, they’ll be booted from the platform. That means no more ride requests or pickups.

This should only affect a small percentage of riders, Uber spokespeople assured, and for anyone at risk of getting booted off you’ll get fair warning and tips and advice to improve your rating. To see your current rating, open the Uber app and click on the top left-side menu. Under your name is your star-rating that goes up to 5.0. If you click on your rating, you can learn more about Uber’s policy and what you can do to increase the likelihood of receiving five stars after every ride.

The threat of deactivation is supposed to encourage better ridership and pinpoint users that consistently behave poorly, whether that’s leaving trash behind, using vulgar or aggressive language, or forcing drivers to speed or run red lights. 

The U.S. and Canada rider deactivations are part of Uber’s updated community guidelines, also released Wednesday. Starting today, the guidelines are laid out in a clearer, more visual format with simpler language with an emphasis on “safety and respect for all.” For anyone who wants the full text, that still exists.

To make sure everyone actually pays attention to Uber’s expectations of getting into a car or ordering food through its platform, everyone who uses Uber will see a large in-app message appear about the updated community guidelines. At some point you need to click “I understand” to continue onto the usual app. Uber wants to make it clear what they expect from everyone using the app for rides, bike rentals, restaurant pickups, and more.

So once you know what’s expected of you, it should be all five-star ratings from here on out – no pressure.