It might be too little too late, but amid all the Uber controversy, which recently culminated in its CEO’s resignation, Uber has decided to allow all U.S. drivers to accept tips. Here’s what that means for drivers and passengers.
In a recent update to their page explaining the policy, Uber reported:
Tipping is now available in Seattle, Minneapolis, and Houston starting on June 20, 2017. We’re starting with only 3 cities so we can create the best tipping experience for you and your riders.
We’ll be adding more cities over the next few weeks and making tips available to all U.S. drivers and delivery partners by the end of July 2017.
Without the new policy, drivers were allowed to accept tips in cash, but unlike Lyft, there’s no option on the app to give your driver a tip. With this update, drivers can decide if they do indeed want to offer tipping as an option. If they do, their passengers will be prompted to rate and enter a tip once the ride is finished.
And yes, drivers will get the full amount of the tip. You will, however, have to update the app for this change to take effect.
Consumerist reports on a couple of other changes, too. Uber has experimented with a pay-to-wait feature, and now it’s rolling it out indefinitely in August. If drivers have to wait more than two minutes, they’ll get a per-minute fee for waiting.
Drivers will also be compensated for cancellations. If a passenger cancels a car more than two minutes after the driver accepts the ride, they’ll pay a cancellation fee. That feature will roll out by the end of August, too.