Grab Singapore Will Be Charging Passengers SGD4 If They Cancel A Ride After Five Minutes

Passengers using ride-sharing service GrabShare will have to pay the SGD4 (RM12) penalty if they cancel more than three minutes after securing a ride, Grab said in an announcement on 3 March.

Drivers will receive 100% of the fee as compensation for their time on the road.

If the Grab ride arrives more than five minutes later than its estimated time, passengers can cancel the ride for free, Channel NewsAsia reported.

After waiting for more than five minutes for regular rides or three minutes for GrabShare rides, drivers will also be allowed to make cancellations.

"If your driver decides to wait for you beyond this period, standard additional waiting time surcharges apply," Grab said.

Passengers will either be charged for a late cancellation or for not showing up on time, and not for both.

According to the ride-sharing company, its cancellation policy was updated to give passengers the flexibility of cancelling a booking they have just made while still ensuring drivers are also fairly compensated for their time and effort.

"Our technology provides us with information on the driver-partners' and passengers' locations, which will help us decide on cancellation fee waiver requests on a discretionary basis if necessary," Grab told Channel NewsAsia.

As to why the grace period was decided as five minutes, Grab revealed that data and usage trends indicated that it was a good length of time for users to decide whether to cancel a ride, without the driver being "too far committed" into the journey.