‘Disgraceful’: Cab company called out

13Cabs lauds itself as a better service than rideshare apps like Uber or Didi because it doesn’t have surge pricing – which is when the app’s algorithm increases the price of a fare due to a “surge” of people ordering a ride in one area.

Since these taxi competitors arrived in the Australian market, 13Cabs has repeatedly stated that it does not surge its prices.

On the13Cabs website under the frequently asked questions section, the company states: “It’s just basic fairness. We don’t believe you should be taken by surprise just because there’s a high demand for cabs. When you ride with 13Cabs, there’s no surge, ever.”

However, social media users have accused the cab company of surge pricing in cases where a customer uses the 13Cabs app.

When news.com.au looked up a trip on the app, this also cast doubt on the situation, with the exact same destination going up by $79 because one trip was in the morning, and the other was for the afternoon at school rush hour.

A company spokesperson denied that their prices surged although they did acknowledge that the price was calculated depending on the time of day – which could indicate peak and non-peak times play a part.

A trip from the News Corp office in Surry Hills to Rooty Hill had two wildly different prices, according to the 13Cabs app.

At 3.37pm, 13Cabs quoted $212 as the taxi fare.

Google Maps showed an estimated drive length of one hour due to traffic for that time.

But the next day, at 9.37am, upon checking again, the fare had drastically reduced, to $133.

The time to get there via the different route was only 10 minutes less than the previous trip.

That’s a whopping $79 difference.

In a statement, 13Cabs insisted that the NSW Government set their fares and the price was calculated depending on the time of the day.

They said the main difference in price between the two fares was the time of day, with the more expensive fare being in peak hour traffic.

The routes were set by Google, according to the spokesperson, not by the driver or the company.

They could not explain the vastly different prices despite both being outside traditional peak times of the 9-5 work day.

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On social media, other customers called out the company after their experiences, claiming they too had been charged surge rates.

A Melbourne woman wrote: “Looking at how to get home from work as trains are only running from Flinders St and I don’t fancy walking there late at night.

“13Cabs is quoting over a $115 what is a less than $50 trip to Melbourne’s north east, while Uber is easily less than half that price.”

A user responded: “Wow. Surge pricing by 13Cabs? Thought it would be the other way round. Disgraceful.”

“13Cabs didn’t realise until it was too late that your app now applies surge pricing. Paid $50 tonight for same trip that cost $38 last week,” another person said online, adding: “If you can’t beat [Insert exploitative ride-share service here], join them.”

And yet another Aussie had experienced similar, sharing online: “4:25 AM – normal fare. 4:35 AM – ‘fare has increased due to increased activity’. Righto 13Cabs. Absolutely taking the piss”.