Grab admits deactivation of 15k drivers becomes burden to riders

MANILA, Philippines — Grab Philippines reiterated its admission that the current number of its drivers would not be enough to cater the demand of their everyday passengers.

Atty. Nicka Hosaka, Grab Public Affairs Head, urged the public on Tuesday to use its GrabShare service when using its application.

“As demand continue to grow, there are simply not enough TNVS (transport network vehicle service) to ferry the Filipino commuters,” Hosaka said in a statement.

“Social solutions such as GrabShare, has been launched to help maximize the cars on the road, and be able to service as many passengers as possible, thus, minimizing the effects of the recent 5,000 TNVS deactivation,” she added.

Nevertheless, Hosaka said that using GrabShare was “merely a remedial steps” given the fact that at least 15,000 more drivers are needed to fully cater the demand of the public.

In an en banc hearing recently, Grab Philippines President Brian Cu revealed that roughly 15,000 driver accounts were deactivated since January this year.

Out of the said number, 5,000 of which were part of the one time big time deactivation done by the company on June 10.

READ: Grab PH: 15,000 driver accounts deactivated since January

Following the said deactivation spree, a survey conducted by commuter network The Passenger Forum (TPF) showed that 78 percent of passengers “suffered more frequent and expensive fares due to surge pricing.”

According to the survey, “availability of TNVS units on the road” were the major cause of the surge pricing.

“Aside from more frequent and higher fares, our survey also found out that 72 percent of TNVS passengers experienced difficulty in booking after the June 10 deactivation of TNVS units,” Primo Morillo, TPF convenor, said in a statement over the weekend.

Morillo said the results of the survey only proves that commuters would be at the receiving end of the burden brought about by the deactivation of drivers.

“We are again calling on TNVS providers, especially Grab Philippines and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board [LTFRB], to work together to ensure that there will be more TNVS units available for commuters,” he said.

“Besides preventing mass deactivations in the future, it is also best if the LTFRB can raise the cap for TNVS units,” he added. (Editor: Jonathan P. Vicente)