Ride hailing app exec assures: Fares are fair

CEBU, Philippines - Grab Philippines has assured it is regularly reviewing its fare structure to strike a balance for the benefit of both its drivers and users.

"Grab is regularly reviewing fares to ensure that walang dehado," Leo Emmanuel Gonzales, public affairs manager at Grab, told The FREEMAN yesterday.

He was sought for comment following feedback from Grab drivers and riders that its fixed rates have lowered down recently compared before.

"Grab always reviews the fares to find a way strike a good balance to benefit both drivers and passengers," he further said.

Gonzales also quoted a May 29 Facebook post of Grab country head Brian Cu discussing similar issues raised by its drivers.

"There have been some comments about prices and fares. As some of you have said, you are our partners and I would like to make sure that you make a good living while on the platform," Cu said in his post.

The country head went on sharing his thoughts and proposed actions on the matter.

He said: "First of all, gusto kong hiwalayin ang issue ng fares:

1. short trips that take less than 15 minutes that cost P100 and lower;

2. short trips that take more than 15 minutes that cost more than P100."

He explained: "Para sa akin, ang type 1 na trip ay ok kasi nakakarami kayo ng pasahero. Ang type 2 na trip ay HINDI OK kasi nauubos ang oras niyo sa traffic."

"Ganun na rin ang analysis na ito para sa iba't ibang distansya na kung saan ang cost ng trip ay hindi tugma sa oras ng biyahe. As a guide, I want our partners to make minimum gross fares of P290 per hour. Yan ay before incentives," the Grab official further explained.

Cu also said "We are reviewing the pricing, in fact we have been doing so since last week and have already made changes last Friday (May 26) para gawing mas patas ang mga fares. Changes in the fare structure have been made."

He said the ride-hailing app will continue to adjust to ensure that "fares are fair" for its partners.

"If not we will find means to compensate for the trips where the time and fare do not make sense," he assured.

In fact, he shared "Our top drivers continue to earn the same levels. These are drivers na hindi namimili at hindi sila nagrereklamo agad dahil sa one or two trips. They look at the overall earnings. If you feel that your overall earnings have dropped but you are working as hard, then let's talk."

"We need to help each other. I urge all Ka-Grab partners to continue maintaining a high Allocation Rate and low Driver Cancellation Rate," Cu noted.

Grab, Southeast Asia's leading ride-hailing platform, is currently present in Metro Manila and Cebu, and is also available in 55 cities in seven countries including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and, most recently, in Myanmar.

Based on the findings of its latest report, Grab has 45 million users, more than 930,000 driver-partners, and has 2.5 million daily rides.

As of December 2016, 10,000 drivers have already partnered with Grab in the Philippines. (FREEMAN)