They're not penalised but the driver ought to be compensated. However, since mytaxi automated payment of no contact fees I've had two that weren't paid. Hence it is no longer viable to use at peak times save when bonuses are available.
In general it takes about Two or Three minutes to establish that it's going to be a 'No-contact'.
Fer myself, I sit and wait it out fer the remaining few minutes.
After 5 minutes pass I cancel the job with a "No show" explanation.
And then go to "Job history", click on last job, then click on
"Issues with my fare", another screen pops up.
I click on "Request a cancellation fee" and I am prompted to enter the
word 'Scrub' in the box provided.
I do so and are always/almost paid my Fiver Scrub fee.