"Respect is a two-way street, and so is accountability," the company said in a statement explaining the new policy
ADVERTISEMENTUber said on Wednesday that it will start banning riders with low ratings, a significant change to the company's previous policies.
The ride-sharing giant said that riders who have "significantly below average" ratings may lose access to Uber if they don't heed the company's advice on how to bring up their scores. The company did not release a numeric threshold for when it will remove users from the platform.
"Respect is a two-way street, and so is accountability," Uber said in a statement. "Drivers have long been expected to meet a minimum rating threshold which can vary city to city. While we expect only a small number of riders to ultimately be impacted by ratings-based deactivations, it's the right thing to do."
The decision is part of the company's revised community guidelines that are rolling out in the U.S. and Canada.
The company said that riders who are at risk of losing their access to the app will have several opportunities to improve their score before any action is taken.
The new policy comes after Uber's $90 billion initial public offering was met with protest from some drivers who feel unfairly compensated and mistreated by the tech company.