Lyft joins Uber in charging customers extra for fuel amid high gas prices

March 14, 2022

(Reuters) – Lyft Inc on Monday joined Uber Inc to levy fuel surcharge on rides from customers in an attempt to cushion the impact on drivers’ pockets from higher fuel costs.

“Driver earnings overall remain elevated compared to last year, but given the rapid rise in gas prices we’ll be asking riders to pay a temporary fuel surcharge, all of which will go to drivers,” Lyft said in a statement in Monday.

Last week, Uber said U.S. customers, excluding New York City, will have to pay a fuel surcharge from March 16 to address the same concerns.

The move comes as drivers have been protesting on social media over high gas costs after Western sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a major oil producer, had crippled global oil trade and could further lift gasoline prices.

(Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru and Tina Bellon in Austin, Texas; Editing by Arun Koyyur)