Uber is finally introducing the option to tip its drivers in the UK

uber london app

LONDON — Uber is now letting passengers tip their drivers in Britain.

Drivers have long asked for an an option to let passengers tip them in the app, but the Californian transportation firm previously refused.

Now, as Uber reels from numerous scandals and the departure of multiple top executives, including cofounder and CEO Travis Kalanick, the company has relented.

The change, announced on Monday, comes alongside a raft of other changes to help drivers — including charging customers if the driver is waiting for more than two minutes, and letting them schedule when they want to be at a certain place.

Customers are given the option to tip once they finish the ride and rate their driver. They can tip up to twice the fare of £50, whatever is lower, and the driver keeps 100% of the tip, an Uber spokesperson said. The feature, which was previously only available in some US cities, rolls out across the UK on Tuesday.

And in a feature launching on August 22, if a driver waits for more than two minutes for the passenger after arriving at the pick-up point then the passenger will be charged at least 20p a minute.

Another change seems long overdue — drivers' ratings now won't be harmed if customers rate them badly because of something the driver can't control, like a bug in the Uber app.

The full list of changes are as follows:

In-app tipping.
Paid waiting times.
The lowering of the time limit before customers are charged for cancellations from five to two minutes.
A "no thanks" button drivers can use to decline rides. (Previously they had to wait for a ride to time out.)
An option for drivers to set a destination and a time they want to be there, which Uber will then use to give them passengers going in that direction.
The option for UberXL and EXEC drivers not to be offered UberX trips at the same time.
Uber driver ratings won't be affected by factors outside of their control.

Prior to to his ousting, Travis Kalanick was firmly against adding tipping, saying it would add "friction."

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