Grab eyes additional fee for sanitation, cashless payment

MANILA, Philippines — While Grab Philippines is not yet implementing an increase in its fares, the ride-hailing app is eyeing an additional fee for “disinfection and cashless payment fee,” charged to its customers.

Under the new safety measures that Grab will impose once it resumes its operations, drivers must disinfect their vehicles after every trip, while payment for each trip will only be cashless.

These initiatives, Grab Philippines President Brian Cu said, put an “added cost for the drivers.”

Grab proposed to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to a P5 per-trip fee to passengers “to help cover sanitation measures for the drivers.”

“We made a proposal to raise the per-trip cost by a fixed amount to help cover these. However, there’s no decision out yet,” Cu told reporters in an online media forum on Thursday.

“I believe it is around P5 per trip that will help cover sanitation measures for the drivers,” Cu added.

While there is no decision yet on their proposal, additional costs are mainly shouldered by the drivers and the firm itself, Cu pointed out, and there will be no adjustments to the rates.

The firm assured the fees will go directly to drivers.

Grab said it will still abide by the fare matrix set by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for transport network vehicle services (TNVS).

“So far, there is no adjustment in the fare. We will be following the standard fare matrix of the LTFRB. We haven’t made any requests to the LTFRB to raise rates,” Cu said.

The ride-hailing firm will also lower its surge cap than that mandated by the LTFRB.

Metro Manila and other “high-risk” areas have been under strict quarantine measures since March 17, which shifted to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) starting May 15 to May 31.

Under the lockdown, mass public transport, including TNVS services, were suspended.

The further downgrading of quarantine measures, or the shift to general community quarantine (GCQ), is looming after the metropolis’ mayors as well as the Inter-Agency Task Force against Infectious Diseases (IATF) recommended such to the President.

President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to make an announcement on the community quarantine measures on Thursday night.