Lyft starts charging wait time fees to late passengers

Lyft has quietly started charging late fees to customers who make their drivers wait for them. In a recently published support document, the company outlines a policy that will see it add wait time fees to trips where drivers arrive at a pickup location and wait for more than two minutes for a passenger to get into their car.

The fees won’t apply to Shared, Access, Assisted and Car Seat rides, and if a driver cancels on you due to a no-show, you won’t need to pay a wait time penalty on top of a cancellation fee. Additionally, Lyft offers a five-minute grace period for Lux Black and Lux Black XL rides. And if a driver arrives early, the clock won’t start ticking until after the original estimated pickup time.

“Wait time fees help keep our platform running smoothly – try to be on time and ready to meet your driver when they arrive at the pickup location,” the company says. “Additional wait time charges may apply to your trip depending on how busy it is. Wait time fees vary by location.”

Users with disabilities or those who frequently accompany people who may need more time to board a car can request a waiver from the fees from Lyft. The company says those customers can also request refunds for wait fees they may have incurred in the past.

The change aligns Lyft with Uber’s wait time policy, which the latter has had in place since 2016. Notably, those include the terms designed to accommodate riders with disabilities. Last year, Uber settled with the US Department of Justice after the agency accused the company of overcharging passengers with disabilities.