Grab denies illegally charging riders an extra P2 per minute

Grab Philippines denied on Wednesday that it had been illegally charging riders an additional P2 per minute of travel time, noting that the Land Transportation and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) was aware of its pricing structure.

In a statement, the firm’s public affairs head and official spokesperson, Leo Gonzales, denied the allegation of PBA Rep. Jericho Nograles that the LTFRB was not aware of this additional charge.

“Department Order 2015-011 allowed TNCs [transportation network companies] to set its own fares with the oversight of the LTFRB,” Gonzales said. “In June 2017, Grab, upon review of its pricing structure, initiated per minute pricing of 2 pesos. This was integrated to the existing per km charges and is not added to the upfront fares.”

“The per-minute charges were implemented to ensure that despite serious congestion issues on the road on a daily basis, hard-working TNVS drivers would have a greater chance of making ends meet and supporting their needs,” Gonzales added. “During this time, we corresponded with the LTFRB to present these changes and was given the opportunity to present in full our business model, supply and demand models and pricing structure during one of the Technical Working Group meetings in late July 2017.”

According to Gonzales, the per-minute charge remains part of Grab’s fare structure to date, and the company has been “continuously transparent about this truth.”

“In fact, during times when questions were raised about fares in certain trips, we would always back compute and provide the basic formula for the same, including the per minute charges,” he said.

On Tuesday, Nograles said Grab should refund to its customers some P1.8 billion because based, based on his research, it “illegally” charged customers P2 per minute of travel time.

According to him, this charge is on top of Grab’s P40 flagdown rate and P10 to P14 per kilometer charge.

“The LTFRB should impose a refund. Otherwise, they are liable for graft,” Nograles said in an interview over CNN Philippines’ morning show “The Source.”

“Grab charges P2 per minute illegally. They’re not allowed to charge P2 per minute. The LTFRB has not allowed them to charge P2 per minute but they have charged P2 per minute to everyone,” he added.

For the past five months alone, he said Grab had already overcharged its customers some P1.8 billion.

Nograles pointed out that, apart from this P2 per minute additional charge, which he claimed was not approved by LTFRB, Grab also “committed acts of deception by putting out online collaterals claiming that unlike regular taxi services, they do no impose extra charges for travel time.”

Apart from demanding for a refund, Nograles also questioned Grab’s recent merger and acquisition of Uber Philippines.

He noted that this is a clear violation of prevailing anti-trust laws, particularly the provisions of the Philippine Competition Act, as this might lead to a “virtual monopoly.”

Earlier, Uber said its service would continue to be accessible only until April 8 following Grab’s acquisition of its Southeast Asia operations.

But in compliance with an order from the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC), Grab said it would keep the Uber app running until April 15. /atm