This article was published on June 6, 2016

Uber will make you pay if you keep your driver waiting more than two minutes


Uber will make you pay if you keep your driver waiting more than two minutes

If you’re the type of person who orders an Uber before you’re even done getting ready, you might want to think again; the company will now charge late fees in more places if you keep your driver waiting.

If the rider is more than two minutes late, they’ll begin getting charged (rates vary by city). That said, drivers must still wait at least five minutes because they can declare a customer a no-show and charge them a cancellation fee.

After piloting the late fee system in New York, New Jersey, Dallas and Phoenix back in April, Uber found riders were consistently more prompt about getting into their cabs. And now it’s expanding to Houston, Portland (Oregon) and 10 other cities, with more to come in the future

It’s just one of several changes meant to appease drivers.  A quick rundown of other changes:

  • Uber is expanding its Destinations program to let drivers pick up passengers along a specific direction (say, if you want to only pick up passengers on your way home after a long shift).
  • Drivers can now pause incoming requests so they can take a break or end their shift without their ratings dropping due to canceled requests.
  • Drivers can now apply for Uber’s company credit card to access their hard-earned money immediately.
  • Uber is piloting a 15 percent discount on UberX rides for every 10 trips they complete in a week, or 50 percent off UberBLACK per 20 trips.

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Whatever it can do to fend off those driver lawsuits, right? For more on the driver perks, head on over to Uber’s blog post below.

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