Hurry up! Uber will start charging you if the driver waits over 2 minutes

It’s time to pack your things and jump on that Uber vehicle, because they will start charging you extra if they have to wait around for you. That is, if you happen to be in one of the markets where the new cancellation policy is being tested, which includes New York City, New Jersey, Phoenix and Dallas.

How does it all work? You will notice that this policy is designed to keep drivers happier, easing their previous frustrations with customers.

As opposed to having 5 minutes to cancel a trip without a penalty, riders will now have to make that decision in under 2 minutes. Furthermore, if the driver has to wait for customers over 2 minutes, they will begin charging the city’s per-minute rate.

Now, this is not to be confused with the no-show penalty, which will only be applied if the customer doesn’t show up within 5 minutes after the driver’s arrival. The only difference is that after 2 minutes of waiting, the per-minute fee will begin and be applied if the customer does get in the car.

Uber will be testing this new policy for “the next few weeks”, then they will decide whether it should be expanded to new markets or not. Reports say the pilot was launched a couple days ago, but had to be taken down due to a bug. It seems to be back up today, though.

We can’t help but feel like this is a bit shady. None of us like to be rushed, but that is not exactly was has me worried. I have used Uber plenty of times, and the arrival times seem to vary greatly. Drivers very rarely get to you in the expected time, and even when I am outside the building waiting for the vehicle, I notice they often arrive before I get a notification telling me my Uber has arrived.

2 minutes does seem like an unreasonably short amount of time, especially considering these time discrepancies. With that in mind, we must also remember what Uber drivers likely have to go through. Maybe they need these few minutes in order to stop being abused by some riders, as well as make more money during their working hours. After all, these guys are not being paid a base salary and need all they can get.

Where do you side? Do you think 2 minutes is a fair time window? Hit the comments to let us know.