FreeNow, the taxi-booking app, is to roll out a range of new fees early in the new year which will see passengers charged up to €10 if they cancel their journey or do not show up within a set time frame while the company’s so-called “technology fees” are also set to increase.
Last summer the taxi app rolled out a “technology fee” of €1 which was on top of the booking fees and the cost of the journey with the company saying the money would be used to invest in app improvements.
In a mail sent to customers on Wednesday, the company said it was modifying the fee structure and while it will continue to charge an additional euro for regular taxi bookings, it will rise to €3 for five-seater cabs and €5 for so called “premium” vehicles.
It has also modified the cancellation fees it imposes on customers.
If a passenger cancels a booking two or more minutes after the driver has accepted the request, the passenger will be charged €5 as has been the case since 2020 but the fees are set to rise to €10 for its premium vehicles.
If a passenger does not arrive within 10 minutes of the reserved cab’s arrival and the driver cancels the booking the passenger will be automatically charged a €10 cancellation fee from January 11th.
The new pricing structure comes just six months after it first introduced a technology fee. More broadly the cost of hiring a taxi jumped in September after the National Transport Authority gave the green light for a 12 per cent increase which saw the initial charge climb from €3.80 to €4.20 and from €4.20 to €4.80 at night and on Sundays and bank holidays.
