Quezon City Rep. Winnie Castelo lauded Grab for suspending 500 erring drivers. Close to 500 Grab drivers have been disciplined for booking cancellations.
Grab Philippines country head Brian Cu said in a statement that drivers who cancelled bookings at a rate of 10 percent and above in the past week may either be suspended or banned from using the Grab application. Cu said Grab implemented additional and tighter measures to address the issue on booking cancellations as these increased to 11 percent after LTFRB suspended the PhP 2 per minute travel charge imposed by Grab.
Castelo, chairman of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development, was quoted as saying, “Grab’s policing its own ranks strikes a vibrant social balance and assures the public of a transparent organizational regulation.”
“Grab’s policing its own ranks strikes a vibrant social balance and assures the public of a transparent organizational regulation.”
“Passengers should also be responsible by observing reasonable and valid booking cancellations,” Castelo said.
Castelo added, “while the LTFRB is tightening the noose on Uber and Grab drivers, it appears that the regulatory agency has itself to account for.”
Castelo further asked: “Why are there so many applications for permits filed by TNVS operators that they accepted but not processed?”
“If LTFRB’s objective is to lessen congestion in the roads of Metro Manila, then it should clarify why they continue to accept new permit applications for TNVS and allow the documented ones to serve the public. But LTFRB is taking in more applications that they fail to act on,” Castelo said.
“The practice is so unfair to the drivers who have invested hard earned money to join ride-hailing app companies but run the risk of being apprehended because of applications that were not acted upon. They should have provided guidelines and not give false hopes to the drivers who continue to invest only to be charged for violations,” Castelo added.
Castelo, meanwhile, said Grab must continue to police their ranks and to provide premium service to the riding public. He also reminded the newly-accredited transport network companies (TNCs) to do the same in regulating their drivers, in not tolerating colorums, and in improving their fare system.