First, let me just state that I am not an Uber driver nor have I ever driven for any taxi hailing company nevertheless I will still try to answer your question [ because I was requested to 🙂 ].

I have used Uber a couple of times and found myself wondering how much this stranger I just summoned from my phone makes in a day; how long are his working hours? How long he needs to drive to break-even after his operating expenses? How much of the fare I pay goes to Uber? (yes I do think about these things, I am after all a business student). Unfortunately I have never asked, probably because I’m so bad at small talk and also because finances are usually a touchy subject; you will find that even if you asked most wouldn’t tell you how much money they make (people usually like to keep those cards close to their chest). But I still wanted to know how much Uber drivers make in Kenya; specifically in Nairobi. So I did what you probably did which was Google it. So I could just be telling you what you may or may not have already found out.

Uber takes about 25% of the drivers’ earnings, so you as the driver stand to make about 75% – that is before you factor in your expenses such as fuel, repairs, maintenance and insurance (assuming you already have a car).

On average, the Kenyan Uber driver stands to make about KES 30,000[1] a month but those figures can vary widely between drivers. Why? Because there are other taxi hailing apps in Kenya already such as Taxify, Mondo Ride, Little Cabs and MaraMoja, all of which increase the competition and reduces each other’s market share. Furthermore, because there is little differentiation in the services the offer, the one thing they can use to set themselves apart is their pricing thereby pushing down prices[2] (which is great for us customers but terrible for drivers).

You would be best suited to talk to real Uber driver as there tends to be a disconnect from what you read online and what really happens on the ground. In their bid to attract more drivers, these companies might inflate what you could potentially earn because they stand to make more money when they have more drivers; but that just adds more competition for passengers. The more Uber drivers there are on the road means less passengers available for the drivers and the less their earnings will be.

So like I said, to get better information I’d suggest you head on over to your appstore, download the Uber app and brush up on your small talk before you request a ride, you’ll need it because I know I sure do.

SOURCE: quora.com