Originally Posted by
ftrichard
Well of course they do it for money but $3.75 for a half hour airport run is insane even by Uber's SE Asian standards. The cars were good (Honda City) and the drivers educated and well presented. I live in KL where UberX frequently results in a battered Perodua Myvi running on some of the cheapest petrol outside the middle east so paying $1 for a short local trip or $18 for a 60-minute airport run seems ok.
In Bali, though, the Uber pricing really seems unsustainabley low. Are they pricing to punish the taxi mafia? What would a metered taxi be for this journey? How much are the drivers really taking home? The moral hazard of using Uber is playing out on the streets of Bali.
Gas is fairly cheap, maybe 7k IDR per liter. As I pointed out, wages are quite low in Indonesia. College graduates often make $250 per month. Many make $5-10 per day, or even less.
The metered taxis are a bit more expensive. I'd guess 25-35% more.
Uber takes a cut off the top, 20-25%, I think. I'd guess that many tourists do tip or overpay and if they can convince a customer to hire them as a tour guide, off the clock, then they can make a weeks pay in one day.
Uber now has to compete with Grab and other services. In Jakarta, after the initial "honeymoon" period, their prices increased dramatically, including a lot of 2-3x surge pricing. Only after Grab came in with flat rate pricing, did they move to match them.