I took a rideshare home last week and was shocked to get a $150 extra charge for vomiting in the car. It didn’t happen — what do I do?

In fact, in a recent incident reported on by the New York Times, a passenger who rode in a BMW was charged $150 by Lyft for allegedly vomiting in the vehicle after the driver sent in photos of what appeared to be throw-up in a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

“We let this rider down, and that’s on us,” a Lyft spokesperson told Moneywise. “No one should be charged for damage they didn’t cause.”

So, what should you do if this happens to you?

Let’s pretend, for example, that a passenger named Kaia found an unexpected $150 charge on her account after she took a trip home from a restaurant in a rideshare vehicle. She did not vomit in the car, but the driver claimed that she did. And the rideshare company said she owed the cleaning fee.

So, what should she do at this point?

Drivers are held to a high standard for reporting damage

First things first: A rideshare company can’t just randomly accuse Kaia, or anyone else, of damaging a vehicle. There’s a process that must be followed, which is clearly spelled out by each provider.

“To submit a damage claim, drivers have to meet certain qualifications, including sharing info like the date and time of incident,” the Lyft spokesperson told Moneywise. Lyft’s official policy gives drivers 24 hours after the incident to submit a report and requires:

• The passenger or rider information
• The date and time of the incident
• Three clear pictures of the damage taken under good lighting and from different angles
• Details about how the damage occurred.

Uber’s policy is similar. The incident must be reported, and drivers must provide photos. If they want to collect an inconvenience fee for damage, they’ll also have to provide an estimate or a receipt showing the cost of any professional repairs needed.

These policies make sense. After all, when asked if a rideshare company has an obligation to prove damage occurred before charging a passenger, Angel Reyes, attorney and founder of Angel Reyes & Associates, told Moneywise: “Absolutely, the same way any party alleging harm has to prove it before collecting on it.”

Reyes explained that proof is “the foundation of any civil claim, whether it’s injury or property related.” He went to explain, “that means photos, timestamps, and an actual timeline of who was in that car and when.” That said, “if that evidence doesn’t exist, the charge shouldn’t either,” he continued.

What should you do if you didn’t damage the vehicle

Of course, the problem is that in the age of AI, photos can be faked, and drivers may submit phony photos of vomit or other issues to try to get some extra cash.

The good news is, if you’re falsely accused of causing a mess, you have options.

“Every rider gets notified when a claim comes in, and they always have the chance to appeal,” the Lyft spokesperson said.