PCC orders Grab: Release P19.3 million refunds

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has ordered Grab Holdings Inc. and MyTaxi.PH Inc., collectively known as Grab, to release by April 22 the remaining P19.3 million in refunds to eligible passengers.

The PCC issued the order following Grab’s low disbursement of the refunds from previous fines.

In a statement yesterday, the PCC said Grab should return the remaining amount to eligible passengers through the GrabPay Wallet, without requiring any action to be taken by users to claim the refund.

The PCC reviewed the compliance reports for previous penalties and discovered that of the total refund of P25.45 million, only 24 percent or P6.15 million had been claimed from Grab by eligible passengers as of June 15, 2021.

Contributing to the low disbursement was Grab’s move to require additional steps for passengers to claim the refund.

“The penalties are in the form of a refund to remind Grab that every pricing or booking violation committed against passengers will be paid back to passengers. Grab should immediately release the refunds and continue to adhere to its commitments,” PCC Chairman Arsenio Balisacan said.

In 2019, the PCC ordered Grab to return a portion of its commissions to passengers for violating its price monitoring commitment.

Grab was directed to issue refunds amounting to P5.05 million in November 2019, P14.15 million in December 2019 and P6.25 million in October 2020.

Since 2018, the PCC has penalized Grab a total of P63.7 million for alleged violations of its price and service quality commitments.

The PCC pointed out that the penalty should be paid by Grab and not passed on to drivers or passengers.

Sought for comment, Grab Philippines said it remains committed to complying with its undertakings and commitments.

The ride-hailing app said it is working with the PCC to exhaust all possible measures to ensure that the remaining administrative fee is redeemed by eligible passengers.

Grab Philippines said it has complied with the disbursement order of the PCC, and given the full administrative fee in a manner consistent with the agreed mechanics with the competition watchdog.

“Eligible passengers must redeem their portion of the fines through the GrabRewards Catalog within the Grab App,” it said.