The RB driver was penalised having been found guilty of overtaking Haas racer Nico Hulkenberg under safety car conditions on lap 28 at the Shanghai International Circuit.
Ricciardo, who has also been handed two penalty points for the offence, had been hit by Lance Stroll at the previous safety car restart, sustaining heavy damage through which he ultimately retired from the race.
Hulkenberg had made his way past Ricciardo under safety car conditions at the restart because the Australian had been shunted wide by Aston Martin's Stroll, allowing the German to continue unpenalised.
Believing he was allowed to retake the position he had lost under neutralised conditions, Ricciardo retook his place under the subsequent safety car - deployed to clear up the resultant debris - but a stewards report into the incident revealed he was not permitted to do so.
The report read: "The driver of Car 3 admitted that he overtook Car 27 deliberately but he explained that he felt that he could do so because Car 27 had overtaken him under safety car on lap 28. We note that Car 27 was permitted to overtake Car 3 on lap 28 because of Article 55.8.
"There was no justifiable basis for Car 3 to overtake Car 27 while the race was under safety car conditions. We accordingly imposed a 10-second time penalty on Car 3.
"As Car 3 was unable to serve the penalty due to retirement, we imposed a three-grid place penalty to Car 3 for the next race in which the driver participates."
Source: Autosport