SINGAPORE — A day before it was due to roll out a new policy for riders who cancel their bookings, ride-hailing firm Grab has delayed the move by two weeks to allow passengers “sufficient time” to adjust.

The move, originally set for Monday (March 11), will subject users to a S$4 fee if they cancel a ride more than five minutes after they are matched to a driver.

It will kick in on March 25 instead, the company announced on Sunday morning in a message to customers.

Users will also be charged the fee if a driver waits for more than five minutes at the pick-up point and cancels the ride.

In response to TODAY’s queries, a Grab spokesperson said the firm did not delay the roll-out because of the public backlash.

Rather, it noticed some confusion among riders about the new policy, and wanted to explain it better and give them more time before it kicks in.

For instance, Grab reiterated that passengers would not be charged for cancelling on a vehicle that is taking much longer to arrive at the pick-up point than indicated.

“Just as we are able to show you your driver’s current location, we have safeguards in place to detect if the driver’s not moving towards you,” Grab said in its announcement on Sunday.

The new policy will override the one today, in which a passenger receives a S$5 penalty after his third cancellation in seven days.

Grab said the new policy would allow more flexibility for passengers and ensure it remains fair to its drivers.

Passengers using its car-pooling service GrabShare will face stricter cancellation rules and have to fork out S$4 if they cancel after three minutes.

They will also be charged if drivers cancel their GrabShare ride after waiting for more than three minutes.

Drivers will receive the full cancellation fee, which will be deducted from users’ GrabPay electronic wallets, or credit or debit cards. Passengers using cash will have the fee added automatically to the fare of their next ride and the driver will be told to collect the fee on Grab’s behalf.

Drivers had told TODAY that the change was long overdue, with one saying that it would lead to fewer users booking rides on different ride-hailing applications and failing to cancel those that they no longer needed.

By KENNETH CHENG