Uber driver overcharges Chinese high school student 8,430 yuan for 10km journey worth 20 yuan

A high school student in eastern China was stunned when he received a bill from car-hailing app Uber for more than 8,000 yuan for a ride that usually costs about 20 yuan, mainland media report.

The student, who gave only his pseudonym, Xiao Fang, received the email bill from Uber last week for 8,450.97 yuan (HK$10,283.30) for a ride on October 10 from his home in Sandun town in Hangzhou to school 10km away, the Modern Gold Express newspaper said.

As Xiao Fang’s Uber cab fares are automatically deducted from his father’s Alipay account, the car-hailing company sent an email alert to him saying there were insufficient funds to pay the bill, the report said.

Xiao Fang reported to Uber, which agreed to cancel the problematic bill – which showed that the ride was from Hangzhou to Shanghai, 157km away, and lasted 33,737 minutes – or 23.4 days non-stop – it said.

A reporter from the Express contacted Xiao Fang’s driver, surnamed Wang, who explained that he forgot to press the “complete” button to stop the meter after the ride.

Wang said he did not mean to overcharge Xiao Fang, and offered to help him get a refund, the report said.