Ride-hailing firm Ryde to remove commission fees from next year
Ride-hailing firm Ryde will stop charging private-hire and taxi drivers commission fees to use its platform from Jan 2, 2024, in a move that drivers say seems to be geared towards lowering Ryde’s fares to make it more competitive.
Ryde, which announced the move on its website on Dec 22, said this would increase take-home pay for its drivers and is in line with their goals to build a “fair platform for both drivers and riders”.
At the moment, Ryde charges its drivers a commission of 10 per cent.
Ride-hailing platforms Grab and Gojek collect a variable commission and a 10 per cent commission per ride, respectively. Tada does not charge its drivers any commission.
A Ryde spokesman said there were no plans to replace its commissions with other fees.
That said, the spokesman said it will continue to charge a commission to carpool drivers and a platform fee to riders. A payment transaction fee of 1.9 per cent and 24 cents will also be included for non-cash payments in 2024.
Ryde’s platform fee, which is charged to users, is currently priced at 50 cents for all rides, except RydeTAXI.
But from Jan 2, 2024, this fee will go up to 55 cents for rides below $18 and 76 cents for rides that cost more than $18.
Ryde founder and chief executive officer Terence Zou said: “By removing driver commissions, we’re not only enabling our drivers to take home more of their well-deserved earnings; we’re making an investment in our driver community.”
But drivers told ST the move may benefit Ryde more than them.
Mr Dawson Pang, 51, who was part of a group of drivers put on a pilot initiative with 0 per cent commission, said he hoped Ryde would not use this move as an excuse to lower trip fares.
“What’s the point of zero (per cent) commission when drivers earn less than those paying 20 per cent commission? Drivers want reasonable fares after deducting commissions,” said Mr Pang, who has been a private hire driver for about eight years.
Another driver, who has been using Ryde for three years and was also part of the group of drivers on the pilot initiative, said Ryde was lowering its fare prices to compete with other ride-hailing operators such as Grab and Tada.
The driver, who wanted to be known as Ted, said his earnings did not drop during the pilot, but he expects Ryde to lower base fares when it removes commission fees for all drivers in 2024.
“Ryde’s overall booking (volume) increases but their fare price (will) decrease so it does not benefit us,” he said.
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