Some Uber Go drivers in South Africa are sharing cars and swapping number plates to fool a vehicle-scanning app and get approval for cars that would not otherwise meet its criteria.
MyBroadband previously reported that Uber and its primary e-hailing competitor in South Africa, Bolt, used different methods to check whether drivers’ vehicles were safe.
Bolt senior operations manager Simo Kalajdzic said the company used the CarScan mobile app as one way to verify that a driver’s vehicle was safe and suitable for use on its platform.
Drivers must take specific photos of their car and submit them for inspection. An artificial intelligence-powered model detects interior and exterior damage to produce a vehicle condition score.
Bolt’s back-office team then double-checks the AI-generated report to inform a decision on whether to approve or reject the vehicle. A minimum score of 70 is required for a pass.
The system also links up with the National Traffic Information System to check the vehicle’s licensing and roadworthiness status.
At the time, Uber did not provide feedback on how it ensured that drivers’ vehicles met its standards. However, its website stated that drivers needed to obtain a Dekra inspection report.
During an Uber Go ride in August 2026, we complimented a driver on the cleanliness and overall state of his vehicle, which was in good working order.
We told him that we had previously taken trips with Uber in vehicles that were not well maintained, with malfunctioning doors, cracked windows, noisy suspension, and dirty interiors being common issues.
The conditions of those vehicles did not appear to align with the standards that Uber required on its website.
The driver explained that unscrupulous drivers could bypass the safety and general condition checks and said Uber had also migrated to the CarScan app for cars used on its entry-level UberGo tier.