Grab suspends 500 erring drivers

MANILA, Philippines — Close to 500 drivers of the ride-hailing service company Grab Philippines have been suspended for cancelling passengers’ bookings.

Drivers who cancelled  bookings at a rate of 10 percent and above in the past week may either be suspended or banned from using the Grab application, Grab Philippines country head Brian Cu said yesterday.

He said drivers are allowed to cancel up to five percent of the total bookings per week if they want to receive incentives.

Cu said Grab has implemented additional and tighter measures to address the issue of booking cancellations.

He assured their driver-partners that the company would conduct proper investigation and due diligence on the matter.

Cu appealed to passengers to be responsible by maintaining minimal and valid cancellations and observe waiting time of not more than seven minutes.

“Passengers who repeatedly cancel accepted bookings will not be allowed to take Grab cars within 24 hours,” he said.

Cu said the cancellation of bookings by drivers increased to 11 percent over the weekend after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) suspended the P2 per minute travel charge imposed by Grab.

Grab has filed a motion for reconsideration with the LTFRB, explaining the P2 travel charge was legal and based on a memorandum of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) issued in 2015.

“The memo allows transport network companies (TNCs) like Grab to establish its own pricing mechanism for as long as they reveal the rates on their mobile applications,” Cu said.

The suspension of the P2 per minute travel charge may decrease drivers’ income and result in fewer Grab car services on the road, he said.

Meanwhile, Rep. Jericho Nograles of the Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta party-list dared Grab to refund the income it earned from imposing a P2 per minute travel charge.

Nograles said he would file syndicated or large-scale estafa charges once he finds out that Grab would source the refund from drivers’ earnings.

He said the company could not cite as basis of the P2 per minute travel charge the 2015 DOTr memorandum, noting the order was updated last year with the LTFRB having the sole jurisdiction on fare changes.

“Grab should find other ways to provide incentives to its drivers aside from imposing additional charges,” he said, adding the company should reduce the commission it collects from its drivers from 20 percent to 10 percent.

He said Grab should be ordered to pay at least P3.24 billion for imposing the travel charge.

Nograles said he based his figure on Grab’s claim that it served 2.5 million rides per week or approximately 54 million rides since June 2017.

He said Grab earns approximately P400 million a month, which represents 20 percent of the P2-billion monthly gross income, wherein a majority of the amount goes to its driver-partners.

“This is based on a P200 fare per trip, which is a ‘very conservative estimate,’” he said.?