Cancellation fees explained

Cancellation fees pay drivers for the time and effort they spend getting to your location. There are certain scenarios where cancellation fees apply for on-demand - these are outlined below. For the cancellation policies that apply to Uber Reserve, please see our article on Reservations.

To help ensure smooth pickups for riders and drivers, we recommend riders only request a ride when they are near the pickup location and ready to ride.

Rider-initiated cancels:

Cancellation fees may be charged to riders for the following scenarios:

  • For most economy ride types (UberX, UberXL, Comfort and Pet) if rider canceled 2 or more minutes after requesting.
  • For most Premium ride types (Uber Black, SUV, and Premier) if rider canceled 5 or more minutes after requesting.

We may charge a cancellation fee for the above scenarios unless:

  • Your driver is currently dropping off another rider.
  • Your driver is running late. Your driver has not made progress to the pickup location.

For Shared Rides, we charge a cancellation fee if you cancel your trip 2 minutes after it’s been accepted by the driver.

If you cancel a trip after it has already begun, no cancellation fee will be applied. Depending on where you cancel during the trip, the amount you pay will either be a minimum fare, the upfront fare or the fare based on actual time and distance from the pickup to where the trip ended.

Driver-initiated cancels:

If your driver cancels a trip after they’ve been waiting at your pickup location for a specific amount of time, a cancellation fee will apply. These wait times vary depending on which Uber product you have requested:

  • For most Economy types (UberX, UberXL, Uber Pet, and Assist) a wait time of 5 minutes is provided.
  • For most Premium ride types (Uber Black and SUV) a wait time of 15 minutes is provided.
  • For Comfort, a wait time of 10 minutes is provided.
  • For Shared Rides, a wait time of 2 minutes is provided.

If you believe you were charged a cancellation fee in error, let us know in the “Review my cancellation fee” form.