Is it worth driving for Uber in Singapore?

Private car sharing apps have become extremely popular, drawing much debate and even a mention by PM Lee at the National Day Rally in 2016

Operators such as Grab and Uber have been very aggressive, throwing out money to attract both drivers and riders to gain market share. One major selling point they have been pushing is that they allow drivers to have a flexible schedule, and make money on the side.

Is this really the case? Can I make good money driving for Uber or Grab? Can I really do it as a low-commitment sideline in addition to my day job?

I was also curious, but with no step-by-step guidance + long-term car rental commitment + A LOT of negative comments online, I felt it was too big a step to take to try. 

UNTIL one day, my cousin introduced me to drive for Uber by renting cars hourly from smove.sg. Besides the hourly rental thing, I can pick up the cars at any of their many locations island-wide and return at any other location with no extra cost! I make use of this feature to drive myself home for free by picking up the car near my office in Yishun after work, and dropping the car off near my house at Serangoon. (Grab has recently entered the market too, but I've yet to try it out. I do know that their cars are older than smove, and you have to return the cars at the same pickup location though.)

I've now been doing this part-time for a month or so, about 2 times a week, all while keeping my day job as an engineer and even my social life! My brief conclusions are that

1. Yes you can earn decent money driving for Uber (about $15/hr after deducting costs) BUT you must be very strategic about it AND be willing to put in effort!
2. Yes you can do it flexibly with virtually no commitment!

Don't believe me? Try it for yourself! Just a few simple steps, fully online. Click here to sign up! You'll get 

1. FREE first week of rental and fuel
2. FREE $100 of cash in your payment statement after you successfully send 10 passengers
3. Elevated cash king of up to $120/week for the 2nd and 3rd week of driving

Besides the enviable perks, remember. This is your low-risk chance to try out Uber driving to see if it works for you.

There are some basic requirements you need to fulfill in order to rent from smove and drive for Uber, though. You need to

1. Be a Singaporean or Singapore PR
2. Be between 24 and 65 years young
3. Have a Singapore Class 3/3A driving licence for at least 2 years
4. Not have been imprisoned for more than 7 days
5. PVDL not required (yet). So sign up now to take advantage of the generous sign up incentives!

Still find it overwhelming to get started? Have other concerns and questions about the nitty-gritty details? (e.g. How much data does Uber-ing use? Do I need to know the roads of Singapore well? What accessories do I need?) I will continue to post articles to share more tips for beginners, as well as my experiences. In the mean time, feel free to leave a comment below or drop me an email at tanahguan1@gmail.com if you have any questions, and I will try to answer them as best as I can.

Perhaps one day when I use Uber as a passenger, I will have the honour of riding in your car!