Uber, Grab push measures for driver, rider security

Transport network companies (TNCs) Grab and Uber sat down with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Friday to find ways of protecting both their drivers and passengers, following the robbery and killing of a Grab driver in Pasay City last month.

Brian Cu, Grab Philippines country head, proposed the creation of a common database of “blacklisted passengers.”

Through this shared database, he said, both companies could prevent a repeat of the Oct. 26 incident in Pasay City, where Grab driver Gerardo Maquidato Jr. was shot dead by a passenger who also fled in the victim’s vehicle.

The assailant, Narc Tulod Delemios, surrendered to the police on Tuesday and later confessed to the crime in front of Maquidato’s family.

Cu said a passenger may be blacklisted by both TNCs for verbally or physically harassing the driver, refusing to pay the fare, damaging the vehicle, or vomiting or urinating in it.

As a precaution, several Grab drivers have started to ask would-be passengers to present IDs to verify their identity, particularly those who book rides in the wee hours, Cu said.

On the part of Uber Philippines, its general manager, Laurence Cua, said they would soon roll out their “Share My Trip” feature on the Uber app, which would enable the drivers to keep their families informed of their location.

The LTFRB recently formed a special technical working group to draw up mechanisms for the protection of TNC drivers.

In a social media post on Friday, Cu said the board would soon “mandate TNCs to require passengers to update their profile on the respective ride-hailing apps by using Facebook login.”

He said this requirement would cover only cash-paying riders and that those who would fail to update their profile would not be able to book trips on the app.

The LTFRB recently revised the guidelines for TNCs to reclassify them as transport providers.
Aileen Lizada, LTFRB board member, explained that the revision was made because the TNCs had been maintaining that, as IT providers, they had no employer-employee relationship with their drivers.

With this reclassification, Lizada said TNCs could now be held accountable “for acts or omissions committed by its [drivers] while online, except if (the acts are) beyond the TNC’s control.”

The LTFRB also required the drivers to wear IDs and post identifying stickers, to be provided soon by the board, on the upper right portion of the windshield.