Drivers offer ‘uber’ insights into life in Qatar

Whether you are a visitor to Qatar, or a resident non-driver like me, navigating your way around the capital, Doha, is easy, thanks to an efficient public transport system and up to 24 000 Uber drivers clamouring for your business.

Such transport is affordable since fuel is just QAR2 (that’s R10 or 43 pence) a litre in this gas- and oil-rich country.

This, in turn, creates opportunities for employment when it comes to the ride-sharing business.

In the past three months I have engaged dozens of Uber drivers on a daily basis, seeking to understand the who, what, when, why and how of ferrying customers around Doha and beyond.

It’s been a fascinating journey. I have been educated, entertained and sometimes completely flummoxed by the drivers’ insights into life in Qatar – and of the lives they left behind in their home countries.

So please join me on my daily 8- to 15-minute commute via Uber with Mohammed, Hussan, Hussain, Usan, Abdul, Atif, Aziz, Ayub, Tariq, Salman, Shahid, Bikram, Adesh, Rama, Bashir, Jahid, Israt, Umra and so many others.

In all this time, I have only had the same one driver twice.

(As an aside, I am still not driving in Qatar. Not simply because of the Doha Drifters but because it’s a cheaper and more convenient way of getting about.)

The Uber nationalities

In Qatar, if my observations are correct, all Uber drivers come from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.

This correlates with Qatar’s population mix of foreigners whose numbers far outstrip that of the locals. Of the 3 million people who live here, only 300 000 are local Qataris.

As of 2024, according to official statistics, the largest expatriate community is Indian, constituting 21.80% of the population, approximately 700 000 people.

Bangladesh and Nepal contribute significantly, each making up 12.50%, equivalent to 400 000 individuals.

The local Qatari people do not drive Ubers or other taxis, including the State-run Karwa taxis or Metro Express vehicles offering free rides from home to certain the Metro stations. Instead, they own these businesses!

Cricket is the common denominator

Sport is a great unifier and conversation starter. In Qatar in an Uber, the small talk starts with cricket!

My ice-breaking opener goes something like this:

Q: Where are you from?

A: Bangladesh / India / Pakistan / Nepal

Q: So, do you like cricket?

A: Yes; Oh, yes; too much; of course … or a smile and a nodding of the head.

Not once, has there been a no.

The fellows from South Asia are passionate about the game.

Most drivers then ask me where I am from, or I tell them I am from South Africa and I love cricket too.

From my response, the conversation usually goes one of three ways …

1. There is silence. This is rare but it is usually because the driver is not confident or unable to converse, even in basic English. (To be fair, my Hindi, Urdu and Nepali is non existent!)
2. There is shock. Many do not believe me to be South African, but rather European, British or American, or
3. Rapturous praise for South Africa’s cricketers, followed by a run of their favourite players’ names. Temba Bavuma, AB de Villiers or even Jonty Rhodes, dependent on their vintage.

“I like South African cricket too much. But no luck” is a common refrain. And I concur.

Uber drivers play cricket

These men – I have yet to meet a female driver – play cricket too, if time and commitments allow every Friday morning on any open lot of dry and dusty patch of land.

In search of a better life

Once we’ve exhausted the cricket chat, it’s onto how long they have lived in Qatar and whether their families are with them.

Be it six months or before the game-changing ride-sharing company came into being just 14 years ago (see history), the answer is the same.

They have come in search of a better life.

With no or limited job prospects in their home countries, along with other challenges like crime and corruption, they leave their families and everything that is familiar to them to give their loved ones a better chance at life.

Uber stories

I marvel at the courage and perseverance of these drivers as they share their personal stories.

They tell of their home countries, scenically beautiful but hopelessly overrun by crime; of their families, their parents, wives and children.

Only today, a Nepalese driver beamed about the success of his son who had won a scholarship to study in Germany to become a software engineer. His 16-year sacrifice in ensuring his son received good basic primary education has paid off.

“I tell him to work hard so that he does not have to be a driver like me,” says Mohammed*.

Mostly, however, their stories are sad.

These men live apart from their families.

They rarely get to go home; they work long hours, are often lonely and sometimes struggle to make ends meet in order to send money back to their families.

Take Salman*, for example, he supports nine family members, including his four children, in Pakistan. He was a teacher, but the pay never met their needs. In Qatar, he needs QAR1000 (close to R5000) for food and a room, and strives to send QAR2000 (close to R10 000) home. He has other costs as an Uber driver – installments on his bank loan to buy his car.

“It is a hard life, but back home it was harder,” he says.

Despite such challenges, all are driving in Qatar because it is still a better option for them than what is on offer back home.   

*Names have been changed to protect the identity of the individuals.

An uber take on Qatar

Generally, the big picture view by drivers on life in Qatar is:

Qatar is clean; Qatar is safe; Qatar has no crime and the people are mostly friendly. Their sentiments are universally echoed in visitors’ first impressions of Qatar.

But Qatar is also expensive (too true) and right now, they say, business is bad. And hence, the long hours spent on the roads each day. This can be as many as 14 to 16 hours.

More car small talk

During the FIFA 2022 World Cup, business boomed for the country’s Uber drivers, thanks to a million visitors (on top of Qatar’s 3 million residents).

According to local newspaper, The Peninsula, 2.6m riders used Uber during the four-week run of the World Cup, with the busiest driver handling 850 trips!  The longest Uber trip during this period was 313km – no doubt a loop around the country, since Qatar is small enough to navigate in a day.

But now those who remain struggle to meet their rental or car payment bills unless they work longer hours. This, of course, means you rarely wait longer than 5 minutes for an Uber anywhere in Doha, regardless of the hour. We always use Uber for pre-dawn and late night trips to Hamad International Airport.

While the response for rides is swift, it is going to take me a great deal longer to get a better sense of how the rental or car payment system for the driver works. I know I can Google the information, but I prefer to get the low-down from the proverbial horse’s mouth. Time and the language barrier make this a challenge …

But in the interim, we’ll continue to talk cricket!