Uber is adding a surcharge for users on both ride fares and deliveries in the U.S. and Canada, citing surging gas prices.
Riders taking Uber trips will now pay an additional fee of $0.45 to $0.55 for each trip. Deliveries on Uber Eats will include a surcharge of $0.35 to $0.45.
Uber said that the fees are temporary and will last for a least two months. The fees will go to the drivers, who are responsible for paying for the gas that is used.
The surcharges will be determined based on the distance of each trip and the gas prices in the state. The surcharges will not apply within New York City, because drivers there already received a 5.3 percent increase in pay at the beginning of this month in order to account for the increasing gas costs.
In a blog post posted over the weekend, Uber’s Head of Driver Operations for the U.S. and Canada, Liza Winship, said that while earnings on the platform remain elevated, the spike in gas prices affects drivers, and the surcharge will reduce the burden.
Gas prices around the U.S. are hitting highs, and energy prices are skyrocketing, due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
At the end of last week, President Joe Biden said that the U.S. will ban all imports of oil, gas, and energy from Russia as a part of economic sanctions against the country.
Gas prices jumped following Biden’s announcement to $4.17 a gallon for unleaded, breaking the previous record that was set in July 2008 at $4.10.
While the Uber surcharge is temporary, the company also warned that the policy could continue to change in the coming months depending on gas prices.
Studies say that most Americans are backing Russian oil sanctions even though gas prices are soaring.
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