Grab shortens grace period for users late for rides

Commuters will have a shorter grace period before they have to pay a $3 penalty for being late for their Grab pickup, with the ride-hailing firm cutting the wait time from five to three minutes.

This fee will be charged for every block of three minutes the driver has to wait, Grab Singapore said in a notification sent to its customers and drivers on Monday.

Currently, Grab charges a $3 penalty for every five minutes that a customer makes a driver wait after the grace period.

Commuters pay this amount on top of the ride charges.

Separately, Grab has also cut the cancellation period for a ride. After a booking has been accepted, commuters now have a grace period of three minutes in which they can cancel the ride, down from the previous five minutes.

The cancellation fee remains at $4. Both changes will kick in next Monday. They will apply to the JustGrab, GrabCar, GrabCar Plus, GrabCar Premium, GrabPet and GrabFamily services.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, Grab said the changes were introduced to help drivers reduce fuel wastage while waiting.

ST understands that the penalty for making a driver wait will go directly to the driver to compensate him for the petrol costs.

Grab said the changes will affect a small number of customers, as 94 per cent of passengers arrive at their pickup points within three minutes of their drivers arriving.

To make sure passengers are not unfairly charged for being late, Grab said it will refine the app so that drivers can indicate that they have arrived only when they are at the pickup point or very close to it.

Grab said: "Ultimately, we want to ensure that the ride experience is always a fair and pleasant one for both passengers and driver partners."

Gojek, Grab's main ride-sharing rival in Singapore, said it will continue to omit waiting fees for customers.

However, customers will still have to pay a $4 cancellation fee if they cancel the ride after the driver arrives.

Customers will also have to pay $4 if drivers cancel on them after five minutes of waiting at the pickup point.

Tada, another ride-hailing app, does not charge for cancellations but has a wait charge of $2.50 for every five-minute block after the pickup time.

Ms Lois Teo, 34, a driver for Grab, Gojek and Ryde, said that most of her customers are punctual.

If customers inform her that they will be late, she will not indicate on the app that she has arrived. "Ultimately, it is just about being considerate to each other," Ms Teo added.

However, some Grab customers like Mr Oo Gin Lee, 52, said shortening the grace period will not help save fuel.

The public relations consultant added: "There are many valid reasons why a customer might be late; Grab should make it mandatory for drivers to call riders before they are allowed to charge a late fee or to cancel the ride, to protect the consumer."

According to Grab's website, it now charges passengers a waiting fee when they are late but does not charge its drivers for arriving late.

The website said: "The estimated time of arrival of the driver is determined based on road conditions at a specific time.

"However, such conditions may change quickly, (causing) our drivers to reach you slightly later than the displayed time."

The waiting fee penalty for customers has been around since December 2016.