Singapore – Grab has made a few updates on their cancellation policy. Starting March 11 (Monday), customers can cancel their ride for free if done within five minutes of booking a Grab car driver.
On March 3 (Sunday), Grab released an updated cancellation policy, with the grab cancellation fee structure revised to take effect from March 11, 2019.
For passengers, incentives and penalties will be placed to avoid and discourage unnecessary cancellations of Grab car drivers who have made an effort to pick up a passenger.
This includes free cancellations of rides within five minutes of getting a driver in case of a change in plans. Furthermore, the S$4 charge will be waived if the driver does not arrive within five minutes of the estimated time of arrival.
For Grab car drivers, if cancellations were made beyond five minutes (or three minutes for GrabShare), the rider will be charged the penalty. This includes the driver being able to cancel the trip after waiting for five minutes (or three minutes for Grabshare) upon arrival for the rider with the rider shouldering the charge.
According to the update, a ride may only be charged for one cancellation, either for late cancellation or for not showing up, but not both.
The previous cancellation policy stated that passengers would be charged a S$5 fee for their third cancellation within seven days, regardless of when the cancellation was made.
Based on passenger feedback, this system was not efficient; hence improvements were made to allow for more flexibility for passengers while remaining fair to Grab car drivers.
Passengers will be charged the fee either through GrabPay if they are subscribed to this mode of payment or will be added to the total fee of their next ride if paying in cash. It will be the driver’s obligation to collect this fee on Grab’s behalf.
The update also noted that the cancellation fees would fully go to the designated Grab car driver in hopes of compensating for his or her time on the road. Grab mentioned that it “expects this policy to affect less than 1% of our bookings, as the majority of passengers don’t change their minds after booking.”
The update was made with both passengers and Grab car drivers in mind to make the whole ride-hailing service experience more efficient.
“We believe that this update makes cancellations fairer for everyone. When you cancel your ride within 5 minutes, you’re freeing up the ride for other riders, and you benefit when other riders do the same. Everyone will be able to get their rides faster,” stated the Grab release.
For more details, read about the updated cancellation policy here.
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