Quoting private-pay ride prices: all-in price laws, fuel fees, and card surcharges

What an all-in price law asks of a ride company

An all-in price law says the first price a customer sees must be the price they pay. For a private-pay ride, that means the number on your website, your rate sheet, or the phone quote already includes every fee the rider cannot avoid. You can still charge whatever you want and itemize it on the receipt. What you cannot do is quote $55 and add a $6 booking fee and a $4 fuel surcharge at drop-off.

California, Minnesota, Colorado, and Massachusetts have written this into law or regulation in a way that reaches ride companies. A federal rule exists too, but it is much narrower than its nickname suggests. The FTC’s Rule on Unfair or Deceptive Fees, 16 CFR Part 464, covers only live-event tickets and short-term lodging, such as hotels and vacation rentals. Rides are outside it, so state law is where the duty sits.

Medicaid and broker trips are a separate matter. Their price is the payer’s rate, and the rider pays nothing beyond any state copay, as the guide on charging Medicaid riders explains. Everything below is about prices you set yourself.

Four state rules

Each state reaches the same result with its own wording, exceptions, and start date.

• California. Civil Code 1770(a)(29) makes it a deceptive practice to advertise, display, or offer a price that leaves out any mandatory fee or charge. The only exclusions are taxes or fees a government imposes on the transaction and postage or carriage for shipping a physical good. It has applied since July 1, 2024. The Attorney General’s hidden fees FAQ adds that a business cannot comply by listing one price and stating that a percentage fee will be added, or by disclosing extra fees just before checkout.
• Minnesota. Statutes 325D.44, subdivision 1a, effective January 1, 2025, treats the same practice as a deceptive trade practice. A mandatory fee includes any fee or surcharge that must be paid to buy the service, that the buyer cannot reasonably avoid, or that a reasonable person would expect to be included. Taxes imposed by a government are excluded.
• Colorado. The state added C.R.S. 6-1-737 through HB25-1090, effective January 1, 2026. It requires the total price to be shown as a single number, without splitting it into separate fees, and more prominently than any other pricing information. The total is the maximum of everything a buyer must pay, excluding government and shipping charges unless the seller chooses to include them. Before the buyer agrees to pay, the seller must also explain any amount outside the total, including whether it is refundable.
• Massachusetts. The Attorney General’s fee regulation, 940 CMR 38.00, applies to sales targeted to Massachusetts consumers and has been enforced since September 2, 2025. A seller must show the total price the first time any price is presented, display it more prominently than other pricing information, and give it before asking for billing or other personal details. The nature, purpose, and amount of each fee must be disclosed along with the total.

These four are not the only consumer protection rules that touch pricing. Check your own state attorney general’s guidance before you publish a rate sheet.

Which ride charges count as mandatory

A charge is mandatory when every rider on that kind of trip has to pay it. A charge that depends on what happens later, or on an extra the rider chooses, is a different case. The grid below applies those tests to the charges ride companies most often use.

The contingent charges follow the Attorney General’s reasoning in California. Its FAQ treats fees triggered by a customer’s later conduct, such as a fee for returning rented equipment late, as not mandatory. A no-show fee works the same way. Wait time is closer to the line, so the safe course is to state the included wait in the quote and the rate after it on the same line.

Optional means truly optional. A stair chair the rider needs to get out of a second-floor apartment is part of that rider’s trip, so price it into that rider’s total. An escort seat the family asks for as a convenience can be quoted as an add-on.

A fuel surcharge applied to every trip is the charge owners most often get wrong. Keeping the formula is fine. Quoting the base fare alone and adding the surcharge at billing is not, in any of these four states.

Prices that depend on distance or time

Ride prices usually depend on miles and minutes, and two of the four rules address that directly.

• Minnesota lets a service priced by distance or time comply by clearly and conspicuously disclosing the factors that determine the total, any mandatory fees, and that the total may vary.
• Colorado has a similar route for services whose total cannot reasonably be known at the time of the offer because of factors beyond the seller’s control, including distance or time. The seller must show it qualifies and disclose the same three things.
• California has no such carve-out in the statute. Its Attorney General’s advice is that a business that does not yet know what it will charge should wait to display a price until it does.
• Massachusetts has no carve-out either. Its total price means the most a consumer must pay, so quote a firm total or a stated maximum.

In practice, all four point the same way. Take both addresses, work out the loaded miles, and quote one total for that trip. On a published rate sheet, show the per-mile structure along with any fees that always apply and a plain statement that the total depends on distance and waiting time. The flat rate pricing guide covers zone and band prices, which make an all-in number easier to publish.

Card surcharges follow their own rules

A fee for paying by card sits under card network rules and separate state laws, apart from the all-in price laws.

Visa’s U.S. rules, in the April 18, 2026 edition of its core rules and its merchant surcharge guidance, set these conditions:

• Notice. Tell your acquirer, the company that processes your card payments, in writing at least 30 calendar days before you announce or start surcharging, whichever comes first.
• Cards. Credit cards only. Debit and prepaid cards cannot be surcharged, even when the rider chooses “credit” on a debit card.
• Cap. The lower of your merchant discount rate for that card or 3 percent.
• Disclosure. At the point of entry, at the point of sale, and on every receipt.

State law can be stricter. Connecticut bars surcharges on any transaction but allows a discount for paying by cash, check, or debit if you post it on your premises, show it on your website before an online payment, and say it out loud before a phone payment. Massachusetts bars sellers from surcharging a cardholder who uses a credit card instead of cash or check. New York requires you to post the total price for paying by card, including the surcharge, and caps the surcharge at what the card company charges you. Visa’s 2024 guidance also names Maine, Oklahoma, and Puerto Rico as places that prohibit surcharging and Colorado, Minnesota, and New Jersey as places with their own requirements.

The all-in laws connect to this at one point. California’s Attorney General says a card fee is generally not mandatory if the customer can avoid it by paying another way, but it becomes mandatory, and belongs in the advertised price, if the business accepts only cards. The card payments guide covers saved cards, deposits, and chargebacks.

Facilities and other business customers

California’s Attorney General says its law does not apply to goods or services bought for commercial use. Massachusetts’s regulation likewise covers only purchases for personal, family, or household use. A hospital, nursing home, or senior living community buying rides under an agreement is in that position. The agreement controls, so put the base fare, mileage, wait, attendants, and any fuel adjustment in the signed rate schedule, and invoice exactly what it says. The facility transportation agreement template shows where each rate belongs.

The family of a nursing home resident paying out of pocket is a consumer, even if the facility arranged the ride. Quote them the all-in price.

Wording a quote that holds up

An all-in quote leads with the total, then explains what could change it. Two examples with made-up numbers:

Phone or text quote: “Your wheelchair ride from 14 Elm Street to Riverside Dialysis and back is $118 total. That includes all fees and up to 15 minutes of waiting each way. Waiting beyond that is $12 for each 15 minutes. If you cancel less than 2 hours before pickup, there is a $25 fee.”

Rate sheet line: “Wheelchair ride, one way, up to 10 miles: $62 total. Each mile over 10: $3.10. All fees included. Your total depends on distance and waiting time.”

Each version puts the total first, uses the word “total”, names the conditions for anything extra, and leaves nothing to be added at drop-off. Text or email the quote before pickup and file it with that trip. A layout for the published version is in the rate sheet template, and the private pay guide covers who books these rides.

Where HealthRide fits

HealthRide prices each trip from the rate schedule of the payer on that trip and shows the fare when the trip is booked. A family can settle a quoted ride with a pay link or a saved card, and every payment lands in one ledger, matched to its trip. See payments.