Record-high fuel costs in Australia have forced Uber and Australia Post to impose fuel surcharges for their services, pushing up the cost of living for residents.
Uber Australia announced on Friday that based on driver-partner feedback, a temporary fuel surcharge would be rolled out across Australia.
Riders will be charged based on kilometres, which will go to the driver in full. Uber Australia estimates that their drivers will be able to earn about an extra 50 cents for an average trip during the next 60 days.
“The goal of this is to reduce the burden of the unprecedented nature of recent fuel increases while keeping the Uber platform working well for everyone,” Foley added.
The fuel surcharge for April has risen to 3.1 percent and is based on January prices, meaning the latest upsurge, where fuel has broken the $2 per litre (US$5.50 per gallon) mark, are not in the calculations.
“With changes in fuel prices impacting the transport industry, the fuel surcharge can rise, fall, hold, or not be applied, depending on the movement in fuel prices,” Australia Post said.
As costs for transport and logistics around the country skyrocket, price hikes are also seeping into other industries.
Fruit and vegetable company SPC also announced that consumers would soon see their brand’s products, such as canned baked beans and spaghetti, jump 10 to 20 percent in price.
SPC Chairman Hussein Rifai said the “double whammy” of a two-year pandemic and the war in Ukraine has had a significant impact on the food industry and supply chains worldwide.