Grab’s minimum fare questioned

WHAT MINIMUM FARE? LTFRB Chair Martin Delgra III (center) and Board member Aileen Lizada (right) ask Grab officials Miguel Aguila (left) and Anton Bautista during Tuesday’s hearing why there is no mention of a minimum fare in their petition for the reinstatement of the P2 per minute travel charge. —EDWIN BACASMAS

Officials from ride-hailing giant Grab came prepared on Tuesday to ask the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to lift the suspension of its P2 per minute travel charge.

Instead, they ended up having to explain why the transport network company (TNC) was imposing a minimum fare—
P80 for GrabCar and P125 for Grab Premium—without the LTFRB’s knowledge.

During the hearing, Grab strategy and special projects head Anton Bautista explained that the minimum fare rate would apply only if a passenger’s trip was shorter than 3 kilometers.

The move was to ensure that Grab drivers were “still well-compensated” even if they made short trips, he said.

His explanation, however, did not sit well with a visibly surprised LTFRB Chair Martin Delgra III who said that Grab did not inform the board about its minimum fare. He also expressed confusion over its pricing scheme.

“We were not informed [about Grab implementing a minimum rate] … [It’s] only today that we understood that there is a distinction between the minimum fare and base fare,” Delgra told reporters after the hearing.

No mention of minimum fare

Earlier, he scolded Grab officials for their petition to reinstate the P2 per minute travel charge, noting that it did not say anything about a minimum fare.

Asked when the TNC started imposing it, Grab legal counsel Miguel Aguila replied that the minimum fare took effect on June 5, 2017.

While the LTFRB did not order the TNC to suspend the additional charge, it directed Grab officials to revise their petition and include an explanation of how their rates were determined.

The ride-hailing app, which has dominated the local industry since taking over Uber’s Southeast Asian operations, has repeatedly been accused by PBA party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles of charging “illegal fees.”

It was Nograles who exposed Grab’s minimum fare rates during the hearing, which was supposed to take up the TNC’s petition to have its P2 per minute travel charge reinstated.

The LTFRB ordered the suspension of the travel charge in April pending a review of Grab’s fare structure.

In an interview, Grab public affairs head Leo Gonzales said much of the confusion stemmed from a “mix-up” between the minimum and base fares.

He explained that Grab’s base fare of P40 was similar to the “flagdown rate” being implemented by taxis.

But the minimum fare, he said, was computed using the base fare, on top of the P10 to P14 per km charge, the disputed P2 per minute charge and a surge-pricing rate if required.

“We’ve never tried to hide anything from the general public. We have always been upfront with our fares,” Gonzales added.

Drivers’ plea

Winson Esteras, the head of a transport network vehicle services (TNVS) drivers’ coalition, said the reimposition of the P2 per minute travel charge would allow them to cope with rising fuel prices and heavy traffic.

Esteras claimed that TNVS drivers were losing at least P100 to P383 a day with the suspension of the travel charge.

As a result, they were less inclined to go online — resulting in fewer vehicles on the road for booking requests, he said.

But for Nograles, who was present during the hearing, the bigger jeopardy might be imminent suspension should the LTFRB determine that Grab unilaterally imposed these fees without informing the agency.

“The conduct of the management of Grab directly affects the livelihood of the thousands of the drivers working with [it],” he said.