Your Uber driver has stopped paying the daily. What to do, step by step

It rarely starts with a driver who vanishes. It starts with a short day — KSh 1,000 instead of 1,500 — then a day with nothing and a promise, then a week where you are not sure what was paid at all. By the time you sit down to work it out, you are arguing about memory.

Here is how to handle it, in order.

1. Get the numbers straight first

Before you call him, know exactly:

• Which days were owed — not rest days, not garage days.
• What was paid, and when — from your M-Pesa till statement, not from memory.
• The balance — owed minus paid.

If you cannot produce those three numbers, the conversation becomes "you said, I said." If you can, it becomes "here is Tuesday and Wednesday."

2. Talk the same day, not the same week

Call on the first unpaid day. Most drivers who fall behind are having a bad week — a slow day on the apps, a family emergency, a repair they paid for. A quick call the same evening, with the numbers, usually gets a plan: "I'll add 500 a day until it's cleared."

Wait a week and the shortfall is too big to clear from the daily, and a driver who cannot catch up stops trying.

3. Agree a catch-up plan in writing

Write it in a WhatsApp message he replies to: the balance, the extra amount per day, and the date it will be cleared. It takes a minute and it is the record you will need if it happens again.

4. Know your line — before you need it

Your agreement should already say how many unpaid days before the car comes back (our template suggests two in a row). Apply it the same way every time. Owners who make exceptions for one driver teach every driver that the rule is negotiable.

5. Taking the car back

If it comes to that:

• Take it calmly and in daylight, with the spare key and the tracker's location.
• Check the car against your handover photos.
• Settle the balance in writing, less anything you owe him for receipts.
• Remove the car from his Uber and Bolt accounts so it cannot be driven on them.

If he refuses to return the car, report it to the police with your logbook and your agreement. To recover money he owes, send a demand letter and, if needed, use the Small Claims Court — up to KSh 1 million, no lawyer needed.

6. Make it hard to fall behind in the first place

Most defaulting is a slow slide that nobody noticed early. The fixes are simple:

• Payments go to your till, every day, from his own phone. Never cash through a third person.
• You know the same evening who has paid and who is short.
• He can see his own balance. A driver who knows he is KSh 3,000 behind acts on it; one who is guessing does not.
• Someone reminds him — ideally not you.

How Gariboss handles it

Gariboss does step 6 for you. Every evening each driver gets a reminder of what he owes with a link to pay into your till. You get one message: who paid, who is short, who has stopped. Rest days and garage days are never counted as owed, and both of you see the same balance — so the numbers are never the argument.