Lyft fee cap
Lyft’s fee cap ensures that Lyft’s fee will be no more than 30% of total passenger payments before insurance taxes and government fees are subtracted for the month. If the total Lyft fee from all your rides is ever above 30% when the month ends, you’ll get paid an earnings adjustment to make up the difference.
The Lyft fee cap is available in the US, excluding Puerto Rico.
You can track the Lyft fee cap anytime in the Lyft Driver app:
- Go to your earnings in the Driver app.
- Tap 'See weekly breakdown.'
- Tap the Lyft fee cap banner at the bottom of the weekly breakdown.
The tracker is also available through your ride receipt by selecting the ‘Tap to track’ button on the Lyft fee cap banner.
What is the Lyft fee?
The Lyft fee is used to promote the platform and create demand for rides, provide customer service for drivers and riders, support safety infrastructure, cover data hosting and card processing fees, maintain the platform 24/7, make app improvements, and more.
After a passenger pays for a ride, that money is distributed into three categories:
- Your earnings: The money you take home from rides and bonuses. Insurance, taxes, and government fees: The necessary costs to operate the platform, such as commercial auto insurance and risk-related and government-mandated fees.
- The Lyft fee: The amount Lyft keeps to operate the Lyft app. It covers everything from app improvements and safety infrastructure to marketing and transaction costs, like credit card processing fees, and more.
While the Lyft fee for an individual ride might be higher or lower than 30%, the cap ensures your monthly total never exceeds 30% of what passengers paid.
Getting an earnings adjustment
If you are eligible for a Lyft fee cap adjustment, it will be added to your earnings 4 days after the month ends. For example, an adjustment for May would be paid on June 4.
You can view the status of your adjustment in the Lyft fee cap tracker. Once the month ends, it may take a few days for your data to be finalized while we finish processing all rides from that period.
Understanding insurance, taxes, and government fees
These costs are not included in the Lyft fee.
Insurance
To comply with government regulations, Lyft maintains commercial auto insurance on your behalf. This includes $1 million or more in liability coverage while you’re driving with Lyft. This fee also covers additional risk-related costs for accidents that occur during rides.
Note: This is in addition to your personal insurance requirements, which may not cover accidents while you're driving with Lyft.
Taxes and government fees
This includes taxes and fees imposed by federal, state, and local governments to operate the rideshare platform. Common examples include sales tax or fees charged to pick up or drop off passengers at an airport.
Frequently asked questions
When is the "month" defined?
The Lyft fee cap is based on a calendar month, starting at 12 AM on the first day of the month and ending at 11:59 PM on the last day.
What happens if the Lyft fee is negative?
In some cases, the Lyft fee may be displayed as a negative number or "Cost to Lyft". This happens if the amount you received in bonuses is more than the amount Lyft collected, or if a passenger used a high-value discount.
Does the Lyft fee include my Express Drive rental costs?
No. If you use Express Drive, your rental costs and fees are separate and are not included in the Lyft fee calculation.