Uber is temporarily removing the split fares feature

Uber plans to temporarily remove the ability to split fares sometime next month, as reported by Mashable. The company is "in the process of reworking how riders split fares," Uber said in a statement shared with Mashable and provided to The Verge. "We know this is a popular feature, so rest assured that we are planning to roll out a new, improved version in the coming months."

The company also sent an email to some customers informing them of the change, although it appears that the email was partially incorrect. "We are sorry to let you know that from March 21st; we are discontinuing the 'Split fare' feature, which allows you to share the price of a trip with other riders," according to a screenshot of the email included in the Mashable article. This email was sent to riders in the UK, Uber spokesman Conor Ferguson told The Verge.

However, Ferguson says that the date of March 21 was not correct; instead, the feature will be removed sometime in April. And while the email reported by Mashable says that Uber is "continually working to improve your ridesharing experience in other new ways," it doesn't seem to mention that Uber plans to implement a new way of splitting fares in the future.

Uber first introduced the ability to split fares in 2013, and it's helpful if you want to share the cost of a ride. Lyft removed its own "Split Pay" feature in 2018, though it has since created a half-measure: Starting in 2020, you can use Venmo as payment and split a ride's fare from the Venmo app. Ferguson also recommended using Venmo or another mobile payment app as an option to split an Uber fare.