What is pre-authorization?
When you create a new account on Careem and book your first Hala ride, as a way to verify
the validity of your payment method, pre-authorization is done through a small amount of
hold that is not actually an ‘additional’ charge to your account.
This hold will be based on the estimated fare of your first Hala ride.
To simplify, let’s say you’ve just booked your first Hala ride and the estimated fare is AED
50.
By default, the Careem app will initiate a pre-authorization hold of AED 50, which you will be
notified about.
What happens if your actual trip fare is less than the pre-authorization hold?
Let’s say your estimated trip fare was AED 50 and your final fare actually came up to just AED
30(yay!),
● AED 30 will be taken from the hold amount
● The balance of AED 20 will be released immediately by Careem back to the card you
added for the booking.
● The timeline for when the amount reflects back in your account is subjective to the
bank’s policy.
● It can typically take anywhere between 1 to 3 weeks.
What happens if your actual trip fare is more than the pre-authorization hold?
If your estimated trip fare was AED 50 and your final fare comes up to AED 70, when the
booking/ride is completed,
● the hold amount of AED 50 will be converted into a charge on your payment method,
and the rest of the amount, in this case AED 20, will be charged as another
transaction.
● You might see 2 transactions on your account but rest assured that only the total booking
cost will be charged
If for any reason your booking is canceled before the trip starts:
● the hold amount will be released from our end immediately
● It may take about 1-3 weeks for your bank to reflect this, depending on your bank’s
policy.
