ISLAMABAD: As every jobless youngster of twin cities finds Careem and Uber as a full-time job with minor investment and handsome profit, Muhammad Hamza also started the endeavour of getting a job therein – imagining a lot of money which would keep him awake for days.
Hamza, 24, and an MBA degree holder – who turned to be a cab driver – said to this scribe that he was short of money, therefore he got a loan from his friends and purchased a Japanese auto car and registered it with Uber, thinking that he would earn sufficient bread and butter for his family.
‘Actually, people advised me to register it with Uber, an international cab company, because they are paying almost 350 rupees to the drivers per hour, not per traveler, or per trip,’ he said.
Then, after working with Uber for a week, I could not sleep to know that there are conditions to earn money as a bonus, he added. They cut 20 per cent of your income as commission, he found out.
‘You got to be online for 11 hours and must have 14 rides,’ he added while declaring it a scam.
When you ride 10-11-12 customers, Uber will not give you 13th one, and then 14th one is near to impossible. Because, if they started giving every driver 14 rides per day, he would earn a lot more than three thousand rupees. Also, you must be able to complete 70, 140 rides per week for, “Grabbing money that would give you nightmares!”
After some time, he came to Careem to double his dreams and then he registered his vehicle with both of them like many did.
The drivers have now started flouting the rules of both taxi companies by registering their vehicles with both of them. And, both companies also know this, in fact, they themselves contact drivers of other company and offer them better packages.
Hamza, got some relief and got paid but now, as thousands of cars have been registered with Careem, there is less profit than before and that too is decreasing day by day.
Apparently, these jobs are good, but Hamza did not learn anything new, plus there was no chance of promotion, learning in life; you’ll always be a driver.
Working with both of them for months got to let him busy all day, and he earned just bread and butter except fuel and maintenance because the car was travelling more than 200 km per day.
It was just the matter of time, before he got a job in a private bank; now he is working and hoping to get promoted soon, besides this, sometimes he still drives Careem or Uber [depending on his mood].
He advises other youngsters, “You must not spend all day and night driving Careem or Uber, let them aside, get the benefit of your studies, builds your career, finds a job or business that has some scope ahead and further furnishes your skills day by day.”
