Popular ride-sharing service BlaBlaCar is to introduce booking fees of up to 20 percent for customers in Russia, the company announced Wednesday.
BlaBlaCar, which has operated in Russia for over three years, allows travelers to pay drivers for a seat in their car as they travel between cities.
Aleksei Lazorenko, head of BlaBlaCar’s service in Russia and Ukraine, told the Rambler news agency that a booking fee of up to 20 percent of the price of the journey would be added per passenger. No new fees would be applied to drivers, he said.
The fee will initially be introduced on the 215 km route between Ekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk, with passengers paying 250 rubles ($4) to the driver and an additional 50 ruble ($0.80) booking fee to BlaBlaCar.
The payment will be rolled out across Russia before the end of the year, Lazorenko said, maintaining that the fees would be invested into developing the company's services.
BlaBlaCar has 35 million users across the 22 countries where it operates, with Russia making up one of company’s three biggest markets.
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