Passenger accuses PHV driver of ‘stalling to claim $5 waiting fee’, Stomper explains why it’s unlikely
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Private-hire vehicle (PHV) drivers cannot tap “arrive” from anywhere they like.
That is according to Stomper Rashid, a PHV driver himself.
He wants passengers to be aware of this because recently, someone on Reddit recently accused a Grab Premium driver of “intentionally stalling to claim $5 waiting fee”.
The passenger waiting at Sentosa Cove claimed that the driver stopped near the carpark entrance and did not arrive at the pickup point until after the grace period had passed. For Grab Premium rides, the grace period is three minutes, after which the waiting fee is $5 per five-minute waiting block.
The Redditor wrote in her Feb 26 post: “I was charged the waiting fee despite communicating in the app that he had in fact not arrived at the pickup location. I asked him to take back the charge, at which point he became angry and argumentative.”
After appearing on Reddit, the post was reported on Mustsharenews and The Independent, sparking a flurry of comments. The Stomper said the coverage has raised public concern about whether a PHV driver can deliberately delay arrival to collect waiting fees.
“It is important to clarify a key technical point that many passengers may not realise — drivers cannot simply tap ‘arrive’ from anywhere they choose,” said Rashid. “They must be physically at, or extremely close to, the exact GPS pin location set in the booking before the system allows the arrival status to be activated.”
In practical terms, explained the Stomper, this prevents drivers from triggering the grace period when they are not near the pickup point.
“A common source of misunderstanding lies in how passengers interpret map indicators,” Rashid continued.
“Postal codes, building names and landmarks may sometimes point to the centre of a large property rather than a legal roadside stopping point. In condominiums, shopping malls and business parks, the pin may be placed at a specific entrance, arrival plaza or driveway rather than inside basements or private compounds.
“If a passenger waits at a different location from the pin, the driver cannot legally or technically mark arrival until positioned at the designated point.”
If this happens, the driver may not be able to stop at the passenger’s location.
“Drivers must comply with Traffic Police rules concerning bus lanes, double yellow lines, restricted zones and areas where stopping would obstruct traffic flow,” explained Rashid. “If the app pin is positioned at a lawful stopping point, the driver is required to wait there.”
In some cases, drivers are prevented from entering a carpark even if the pickup pin appears to be inside the carpark.
“Yet some passengers respond with the familiar phrase, ‘Why other drivers can, why you cannot?’ This often reflects a lack of awareness of how these parking systems operate,” said the Stomper.
He pointed out that different ride hailing platforms may use different GPS tolerance ranges and arrival detection thresholds.
“Some may allow a slightly wider geofence, while others may require stricter proximity to the pin before enabling the arrival function,” said the Stomper. “Therefore, assumptions based on one platform’s behaviour should not automatically be applied across all systems.”
Rashid highlighted another potential source of misunderstanding.
“Passengers assume that once the notification is received, the driver has just arrived,” he said. “However, mobile data transmission is not always instantaneous.
“Delays can occur if either party is using a network with weaker coverage. In high-rise buildings, basement areas, or places with signal interference, notifications may be delayed. By the time a passenger receives the arrival alert and starts coming down, the waiting timer may already have begun.”
Rashid lamented that many disputes arise from mismatched expectations, inaccurate pickup positioning, delayed notifications, parking design constraints or passengers’ misunderstanding of traffic laws.
“Ultimately, determining whether a passenger or a driver was right or wrong in any specific dispute can only be done objectively if there are clear screenshots showing the exact pickup pin location, the driver’s GPS position, the timing of arrival activation and surrounding conditions,” he said.
“Without such evidence, public debate often becomes speculative. Everyone is essentially playing a guessing game.”
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