Uber in Waterloo Region

[ookpik]

I can think of several reasons:
1. The CC company charges the cab company up to 5% of the value of the transaction. I wouldn't be surprised if the cab company deducts this, perhaps even adds a further service charge, from the cabblie's take.
2. When you tip on a CC the cabbie has to rely on the cab company to break out the tip and pay the cabbie that amount in addition to their take of the fare itself. Again even if the cab company does this they may charge a fee for it.
3. When you tip in cash there's no record. The cabbie has the option to omit some or all of the tip from income tax. They can't do that if your tip is on a CC transaction.
4. When you pay cash the cabbie gets to keep the money right away. With a CC transaction they have to wait for the cab company to pay them. This probably happens only once a week or even less often.
5. With CCs a customer can call the CC company, make a bogus claim against the charge, and the CC will do a chargeback. Cash is cash. There is no possibility of a chargeback.
6. People in a hurry who hand the cabbie a large bill and say "keep the change" usually leave a larger tip than those who pay the exact amount on a CC slip and add a tip.

Now that's based on a couple of minutes of contemplation. I'm not particularly creative. I bet there are even more reasons.