Posted on October 04, 2017.
SINGAPORE: Uber passengers – show up on time or pay a penalty.
Ride-hailing service Uber said on Monday (Oct 2) it has begun charging passengers a late fee of S$0.20 per minute, if their drivers are kept waiting for more than three minutes.
The timer begins when the driver arrives at the pickup location and a push notification is sent to the passenger. If the rider is more than three minutes late, the wait-time charges will kick in. The charges are also subject to dynamic pricing when demand is high.
The aim of the charge is to “encourage you to only request a ride when you’re near the pickup location and ready to meet the driver”, Uber said in a blog post.
The move is also meant to ensure that their drivers “get their due for the time spent on the road”, Uber added.
The charges currently apply only to rides on uberX, uberXL, UberExec and ExecLarge. Its other services, including uberPOOL, are not affected.
Uber’s rival, Grab, also has in place waiting time surcharges for customers who are more than five minutes late. Grab passengers are charged S$3 for every five minutes they keep their driver waiting.