Uber to charge extra fare if driver travels longer to pick you

The popular car-hailing service Uber is turning more driver friendly by making customers pay extra money if the driver has to travel longer distances to pick up.

Uber announced this policy which says that if the driver has to travel for more than 8 minutes to pick up the passenger, they have the right to charge them more. The company believes that this move would probably encourage drivers to pick up the ride from longer distances.

Also, with long pick up fee, the company will also charge per minute late fee if the driver has to wait for more than 2 minutes at the pickup point. Though the app will help drivers to avoid tolls where possible, but if not, than the tolls would be added in the customer’s fare. The ride cancellation policy has too been altered. Customers who cancel a ride at last minute would have to pay more than those who cancel at first, reported Business Insider.

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The 8 minute pick up time is the average; the extra charges’ decision depends on the market and length of pickup point. The extra pick up fare would also be visible in the estimated fare area that appears before a ride is booked.

According to Uber, through this move, the drivers too won’t have to feel irritated for waiting longer as they will be paid extra for it. However, this can cause some issues as there are times when drivers cannot find their way or due to bad mapping, the drivers arrive at the wrong pick up locations. The drivers can also intentionally make themselves late to be paid extra. The customers would ultimately have to pay for the drivers’ mistake.

As The Verge reported, head of Uber’s driver product, Aaron Schildkrout said, “It’s not always as easy to get a car in the suburbs as it is in the city. Even in the outskirts of a city people sometimes have this experience. So from a driver’s perspective, it’s easy to see why this makes sense: you’re more likely to forgo trips with long ETAs… With this change, we hope to make those long trips more worth drivers’ while. And for riders, we hope this means they’ll able to get a ride reliably where ever they are.”