Such riders would be sent tips and tricks, and would be reminded of what not to do, and if their rating subsequently increased no further action would be taken. If it did not increase, they would face a ban.

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Anderson says that Uber currently has no plans to inform riders about why they get the ratings they get, but that a rider could not make it down to four stars by accident.

"You start with five stars," she says.

"To get to a number as low as four there really needs to have been multiple instances of one star ratings, and complaints from a number of different drivers."

Nine out of ten Australian Uber riders have a rating of 4.5 or higher, Anderson says, and most of them "absolutely understand" that drivers and their cars should be respected, and so most users shouldn’t be affected by the new guidelines.

"But there are a small proportion of riders who aren’t behaving in the right way, and we have no place for that on our platform," she says.

There are a small proportion of riders who aren’t behaving in the right way, and we have no place for that on our platform

Uber's Susan Anderson

In a blog post announcing the changes, Uber says the system brings minimum requirements for rider behaviour in line with existing minimum requirements for driver behaviour.

At the conclusion of a trip, the rider and the driver each rate each other out of five.

Anderson says that common complaints from drivers that might result in less than a five star review include: riders not waiting where they said they would for their ride, or waiting in an unsafe place; riders not showing a base level of courtesy by saying hello and goodbye; riders asking for long diversions at short notice instead of using the app to plan stops, and; riders pressuring drivers to drive unsafely.

In addition to the minimum star ratings, the community guidelines also says riders can be banned from Uber for damaging the car, for flirting or sexual contact with the driver or other passengers, for abusive language, for

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breaking the law while in the car or for contacting or stalking the driver after the the trip is completed.

The guidelines also give tips for maintaining a healthy star rating, including cleaning up after yourself and not slamming the door.