Uber announces ban on passengers who receive low ratings from drivers

Ride-hailing giant Uber rolled out new global Community Guidelines on Wednesday, and issued a warning that customers who "develop a significantly below average rating" from drivers will be booted from using the app.

What are the details?

The company's head of safety brand and initiatives, Kate Parker, made the announcement in a blog post titled, "Safety and respect for all."

Parker explained the firm's original community guidelines from 2016 have been updated to "make them simpler and clearer," and riders will need to confirm they understand the new rules "or they may lose access to Uber."

The major change outlined by Parker is that passengers may now be banned from utilizing the service "if they develop a significantly below average rating," a move which the company sees as only fair since drivers are already beholden to maintaining a satisfactory feedback average from their customers.

"Respect is a two-way street, and so is accountability," Parker wrote. "Drivers have long been expected to meet a minimum rating threshold which can vary city to city. While we expect only a small number of riders to ultimately be impacted by ratings-based deactivations, it's the right thing to do."

TechCrunch reported that Uber is not disclosing the average rider rating, but customers at risk of being deactivated "will receive several notifications and opportunities to improve" ahead of being blacklisted, according to a company spokesperson.

Anything else?

Parker also reassured testy customers that they would have ample opportunities to clean up their act before having their ride-hailing privileges revoked. Under the new terms, she said, "riders will receive tips on how to improve their ratings, such as encouraging polite behavior, avoiding leaving trash in the vehicle and avoiding requests for drivers to exceed the speed limit."