A commuter books a vehicle via the ride-hailing app Grab in Manila. This photo was taken on April 12, 2018. (File photo by RICHARD A. REYES / Philippine Daily Express)
MANILA, Philippines — Grab Philippines was fined with a fresh P9-million penalty by the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) due to its failure to refund its customers more than three years after it was ordered to do so.
The PCC on Monday said it imposed a P6-million fine on Grab in a resolution on Feb. 2, citing violations of three separate PCC orders for the company to return a combined P25.45 million to its customers.
Grab said it was “surprised” by the PCC’s decision to fine them, saying they have been closely coordinating with the commission to ensure compliance with the refund orders.
“On each occasion, Grab was given a 60-day deadline to complete the refund from receipt of each order,” the PCC said in a statement.
As for the remaining P3-million fine, the PCC said that Grab provided incorrect and misleading information in their compliance reports. The PCC found that only 24.16 percent of the total amount had been returned to Grab’s customers as of June 2021.