At Lyft, we believe everyone has the right to get a safe ride and have a great experience. This applies to everyone, including passengers with service animals.
This User Guide explains Lyft’s Service Animal Policy, and explains what to do if you need to submit a complaint because you believe you were denied a ride or otherwise mistreated as a result of having your service animal accompany you on your ride.
Summary of Lyft’s Service Animal Policy:
Lyft’s Service Animal Policy is simple: drivers on the Lyft platform may not deny service or otherwise discriminate against riders because they are accompanied by a service animal.
There are no exceptions to this general rule: a driver cannot deny service to riders with service animals simply because the rider is accompanied by a service animal.
There are no excuses: a driver cannot deny service on the ground that he or she has allergies, religious objections, or even a generalized fear of animals.
Drivers who engage in discriminatory conduct in violation of this policy will usually lose access to perform rides on the Lyft platform.
What is a Service Animal?
You may receive questions about your service animal.
Definition. A service animal is an animal that is trained to work or perform tasks for an individual with a disability. There are many types of service animals. Most service animals are dogs.
What are service animals trained to do? Service animals receive extensive training to assist individuals with disabilities.
- Guide dogs help blind people travel
- Signal dogs alert deaf people to sounds
- Other service dogs may be trained to:
*Pull a wheelchair
*Fetch dropped items
*Protect a person who has a seizure
*Calm a person with PTSD who is having an anxiety attack
*Alert others for help or assistance
*And many other tasks
Should I have an ID or tag for my service animal? No. You are not required to have an ID, tag, or other “proof” that your service animal is, in fact, a service animal. Drivers may not ask you to provide proof that your animal is a service animal. Drivers may ask you two questions: (1) is the animal required because of a disability? And (2) what work or task has the animal been trained to perform?
Requesting a Lyft:
When you request a Lyft you are not required to notify your driver that you are traveling with a service animal. However, you may choose to let your driver know ahead of time that you are traveling with a service animal as some riders with service animals believe it is useful to advise drivers in advance.
Lyft informs and regularly reminds drivers about its service animal policy. However, you can show your driver the Lyft Service Animal Pamphlet (available from Lyft Customer Service) to remind him or her that Lyft’s policy is that the drivers who provide rides through the Lyft platform always transport passengers traveling with service animals.
Lyft informs and regularly reminds drivers about its service animal policy. However, you can show your driver the attached service animal pamphlet (below) to remind him or her about Lyft’s commitment to always transport passengers traveling with service animals.
Cancellation Charges or Cleaning Fees:
You should not be assessed any charges or fees because you were accompanied by a service animal. This means:
No cancellation charges. If a driver cancels the ride or refuses to take you because of your service animal, you should not be charged.
No cleaning fees because of the service animal. You will not be charged cleaning fees just because you were accompanied by a service animal. For example, you will not be charged a cleaning fee because your service animal shed in the car.
Cleaning fees for soiling by service animal. You may be charged a cleaning fee if your service animal vomits, urinates or defecates in the car, and the driver provides photographic evidence.
How to Lodge a Complaint:
If you believe you have been discriminated against because of your service animal, or if you believe you have been assessed improper fees or charges, let us know. We will investigate and take appropriate actions.
You can lodge a complaint in one of two ways:
Call Us. Lyft’s Service Animal Complaint Hotline is 1-844-250-3174.
Submit a Complaint. The form can be found here: (https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/articles/214589657-Service-Animal-Policy).
Once we receive your complaint, we will get back to you within two weeks to let you know of the outcome of our investigation and any actions we have taken in response to your complaint, including whether we have removed the driver who was involved from the Lyft platform.
What Happens if You Report Service Animal Discrimination?
If you report to Lyft that a driver denied you service or discriminated against you because of your service animal, Lyft will investigate the incident. The investigation will result in one of the following outcomes:
- If Lyft determines that the driver knowingly refused you service because of your service animal, the driver will be permanently removed from the Lyft platform.
- If your report is plausible but Lyft does not have enough facts to determine that discrimination occurred, Lyft will record your complaint against the driver if it is the first service animal complaint against that driver. If Lyft receives another plausible report of service animal discrimination against the same driver the driver will be permanently removed from the Lyft platform.
- If Lyft determines that your report of service animal discrimination is plausible and it is the second such complaint against the driver, then the driver will be permanently removed from the Lyft platform.
- If Lyft determines that the driver did not discriminate against you, Lyft will inform you of its conclusion and will not take any action to enforce its service animal policy based on your report.
April 13, 2017
To Our Community:
At Lyft, we believe everyone has the right to get a safe ride and have a great experience. This applies to everyone, including riders with service animals.
Service animals are working animals, not pets. Service animals undergo extensive training to assist individuals with disabilities. They help blind people travel, alert deaf people to sounds, protect persons who are having a seizure, and perform many other tasks to help individuals with disabilities.
Lyft’s Service Animal Policy is simple: it’s always “yes.” Drivers on the Lyft platform may not deny service or otherwise discriminate against riders because they are accompanied by a service animal.
- No exceptions. A driver may not deny service to riders with service animals.
- No excuses. A driver may not deny service because of allergies, religious objections, or even a fear of animals.
- No fees. Riders will not be assessed any extra fees or charges because of their service animals.
You can read more about our Service Animal Policy here
(https://help.lyft.com/hc/en-us/articles/214589657-Service-Animal-Policy).
If you a rider with a service animal and believe you were denied a ride or discriminated against because of your service animal, please let us know by contacting the Service Animal Hotline,
1-844-250-3174. We will investigate your complaint and let you know the outcome of the investigation. If we find that you were denied a ride or discriminated against because of your service animal, the driver will lose access to the Lyft platform.
Laura Copeland
Lyft, Inc. Head of Community
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