Grab shortens grace period for ride-hailing waiting time and cancellations

SINGAPORE: The grace waiting time and cancellation period for rides booked on ride-sharing platform Grab will be shortened from five to three minutes starting from Jul 18, the company announced on Monday (Jul 11).

Users will be automatically charged a waiting fee of S$3 per five-minute waiting block if they keep the driver waiting for longer than three minutes. A S$4 fee applies if a passenger cancels a booking more than three minutes after accepting one.

The change will affect all rides, except for those booked under GrabExec, Grab Exec6, GrabAssist and GrabAssist Plus.

“You are encouraged to book rides only when ready to ensure you have ample time to reach your pick-up point,” Grab said in an email to customers on Monday.

According to the company’s website, the waiting fee policy has been in place since December 2016 to ensure that drivers are “properly compensated for the additional time spent waiting for passengers that have exceeded their grace waiting period”.

Initially, Grab drivers had to manually track the amount of time they have waited and add the fees when the grace waiting period was exceeded.

This was automated in January 2020. The company said the process was “tedious”, and added that automatically adding the fee allows it to ensure that the tracking of the waiting time is “more accurate for passengers”.

“This also reduces the amount of effort that drivers need to go through, allowing them to focus on getting passengers to their destinations safely,” it said.

Passengers also receive prompts about the grace waiting time they have left via phone app notifications.

OTHER RIDE-HAILING SERVICES

Gojek users are charged a S$4 cancellation fee if they cancel five minutes after they have been matched with a driver, or if they cancel as soon as the driver arrives at their pick-up location. 

They can also be charged if they are not at the pick-up point within five minutes of the driver swiping “I have arrived” and the driver cancels the booking.

Meanwhile, Ryde charges a S$5.30 cancellation fee if a passenger cancels four minutes after booking a ride.

Ryde drivers may also charge a waiting time fee of S$5.30 if the user is not at the pick-up point four minutes after the driver presses “I’m Here” on the app, regardless of whether the trip is completed or not.