New Zealand Red Cross has Uber backing

Uber has pledged to provide $10,000 of free rides to the New Zealand Red Cross. Photo / AP

Uber has pledged to provide $10,000 of free rides to the New Zealand Red Cross in an open-ended partnership deal announced yesterday.

Uber's New Zealand general manager, Oscar Peppitt, said the deal would benefit the charity's Meals on Wheels service in Auckland and Wellington and would help to provide critical transport during emergencies.

"This partnership is actually a huge step for us ... our aim is to support the Red Cross in a number of different ways across the things that they do and also to raise funds to help them continue their work."

Uber operates surge pricing during times of high demand, which automatically increases fares to encourage more drivers on to the road to meet the high demand.

Under the deal, Uber would also donate its service fee (20 per cent of the total fare) to the Red Cross during emergencies, Mr Peppitt said.

Emergencies would be gauged on a case-by-case basis, but severe storms were an example.

During last December's Sydney siege, Uber was criticised when its surge pricing automatically kicked in as people tried to flee the CBD.

The company later apologised and reversed course, offering free rides out of the city centre and refunding those hit.

The Meals on Wheels arrangement had yet to be fully ironed out, but as part of the partnership Uber would provide volunteers with safe and affordable transport options, Mr Peppitt said.

"The Red Cross facilitates the delivery of 500,000 meals in New Zealand every year - that's a big, big logistical operation."

Uber had 1000 drivers on its books across Auckland and Wellington and was looking to expand into Christchurch, Mr Peppitt said.

Red Cross spokesman Matthew McCracken said the support came at an ideal time.

Red Cross spokesman Matthew McCracken said the charity was going through an extremely busy year with the Nepal earthquakes and Whanganui floods and the support came at an ideal time.

Uber had offered the Red Cross staff in Auckland and Wellington $10,000 worth of free rides per year, he said.

"For an organisation like us, we've got about 450 staff, so we do travel around a fair bit and that obviously helps us cover the cost."

- An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Uber would be providing $100,000 worth of free rides to New Zealand Red Cross staff.