New Uber passenger and luggage rules in South Africa

Uber has reduced the maximum number of passengers that can use the same vehicle for a single ride on its Go, X, Comfort, and Black services in South Africa.

In a recent blog post and email to customers, the e-hailing service said it has implemented passenger and luggage restrictions in South Africa.

“These limits help to manage comfort, space, and safety — especially when luggage is involved,” Uber said.

The notification implies that Uber has never prescribed passenger limits in South Africa, although its app has long shown the maximum number of people permitted on each service type.

Uber’s most affordable car-based service — Uber Go — will now only allow up to two passengers at a time.

When this service was initially rolled out, it accommodated up to four passengers. However, this was reduced to three at a later stage.

The maximum number of passengers in Uber X, Uber Comfort, and Uber Black cars has also been reduced from four to three.

Uber XL and Uber Van rides will continue to accommodate up to six and seven passengers, respectively.

Despite these changes in passenger limits, the Uber Driver vehicle requirements page states that it still requires all its drivers’ cars to have seating for at least four passengers in addition to the driver.

It is also completely legal for all its approved vehicles to carry at least four passengers, which may raise questions about the motivation for the change.

The ability to share the cost of a ride between multiple people is an important feature for many users, especially those who are not too bothered about sitting tight with friends after a night out to save money.

Fortunately, Uber states that all its car-based services permit luggage.

However, the company said that the guidance on passenger limits and luggage was “advisory” and recommended that users contact their driver to ensure they had enough space.

That suggests that Uber drivers are entitled to ignore Uber’s guidelines and impose their own passenger and luggage limits.

The table below summarises the changes in passenger limits on Uber services and explains which services must permit luggage.