Why is there a Service Fee?
Following a Government announcement on November 26th 2025, VAT on Private Hire Vehicle (PHV) journeys has increased to 20% for merchants.
In line with these changes, Uber wants to do everything it can to protect passengers from inflationary price increases, which means moving from a Merchant Model to an ‘Agent’ Model for all UK cities outside of London.
As an ‘Agent’, Uber offers services through the Driver app to you so that you can receive and accept trips directly from Riders. You will pay a ‘Service Fee’ to Uber after each trip you complete.
Why is Uber showing me the Service Fee?
We aim to offer the utmost transparency to our Drivers, which should give you more clarity and insight into your weekly earnings. This is why we are showing the service fee on the breakdown of the amount kept by Uber each week.
What is the Service Fee?
The service fee is the variable sum that you will pay to Uber after completing every trip. This is in return for Uber offering a service through the Driver app so that you can receive and accept trips directly from Riders.
**Why does the Service Fee vary? **
By varying the difference between the Rider price and the driver price, we are able to increase the driver price on some trips, without increasing the Rider price, therefore enabling trips that would otherwise never happen. This helps improve the Rider experience, encouraging them to come back to Uber for their next trip, meaning more opportunities for you to earn. To be able to increase the driver price on some trips, we also need to reduce it on some other trips, to be able to break even. Over the course of a week, these price changes should average out, and the share of the Service Fee out of the Rider fares should stay similar to what you’ve been used to.
What is the average percentage that Uber keeps from Rider fares?
The Service Fee varies depending on the number and types of trips you complete. We encourage you to review your own Statement to see what this looks like for you! Generally speaking, the service fee is not dissimilar to what you’ve been used to; however, you will see some weeks where this number might be higher than before, and others where it might be much lower.
What does that mean for the total amount Uber takes?
The total service fee kept by Uber will vary both on a trip-by-trip basis but also on a week-by-week basis, based on the trips you decide to take. However, these variations should average out, and the share of the service fee out of the Riders’ fares should remain similar to what you have been used to. The objective of these changes is not for Uber to keep more from total Rider payments, but rather to create more trips, which is beneficial both for Uber but also for drivers.
**How is it calculated? **
You can find service fees in the “Breakdown of the amount kept by Uber” section on your Weekly Earnings Statement. You will be able to see how much your Riders have paid, how much you have earned, and the service fee for each trip (this amount excludes the amount Uber contributes towards your pension). The service fee is a variable amount that excludes tips, tolls, certain fees, taxes, and surcharges. This amount can change based on the types of trips you choose to complete.
How do you spend the service fee?
Service fees are used to better serve all users on our platform. Aside from covering things like operational, regulatory and safety costs, they also go toward:
We understand that earnings are an important topic for you and can assure you that we are consistently monitoring Driver earnings across the UK.
Log on to drivers.uber.com to see all Weekly Earnings Statements issued to you to date.