PATRONS of Grab Philippines are up in arms anew over the ride-hailing provider’s policy of charging P50 for cancelled bookings due to late or no-show drivers.

Commuters, who hit Grab for ‘unfair’ P50 charge, have started airing their complains and sentiments on their social media accounts, hoping that this will reach the Land Transportation Franchising (LTFRB) and Regulatory Board and Congress’ concerned committees for immediate actions.

One of them is well-known publicist Jun Lalin, who posted on Twitter over being charged the amount despite waiting for a ride for 30 minutes and the Grab driver concerned apparently not moving on the app’s built-in map.

Lalin later posted a picture of the P50 cancellation fee receipt from Grab, which introduced the fee on December 2, 2021 “as part of our ongoing effort to make driving and riding with us a better experience,” according to the super-app’s website.

Grab Philippines has been enjoying a virtual monopoly of the car hailing services in the country following the exit of rival Uber in 2018.

Officials of the company have yet to react to the reports as of posting time.

“Why will I pay your driver P50 fee kung hindi naman siya makontak at hindi siya dumating after almost 30 minutes at hindi siya moving sa map app n’yo?” Lalin posted on Twitter.

“This is unfair. Gaano karaming P50 ang kinukuha n’yo sa mga kawawa at walang kalaban-laban na consumers n’yo?,” the publicist added.

Other netizens joined in on the thread, and while Grab “strongly advises drivers to follow and honor the bookings” and said “rest assured that we’re doing our best to provide a better riding experience for everyone in the community,” others wanted a refund of the cancellation fee.

Grab passengers said they were very disappointed over the alleged overpricing charges, especially during rush hours.

Reports said the LTFRB and other government agencies are investigating the complaints. “Your driver is not moving, not replying, not answering my calls. Now, I am late, poor service and very unprofessional. After all the hassle, Grab charged me a P50 cancellation fee. Amazing job,” another furious passenger wrote on social media, adding the policy is a “scam.”

Another annoyed passenger said: “You charged me P50 for the cancellation fee because the car doesn’t want to go in front of my house and you want me to walk six blocks away?”

The group Digital Pinoys has campaigned against “a leading TNVS (transport network vehicle service) app” after its attempt to establish a de-facto monopoly of the app-based transportation sector.

The passengers once again appealed to regulatory agencies to put a stop to the alleged abuses of Grab on commuters, majority of whom, they said, “are common employees who only wanted to be home early after a day’s rigorous work.”

“Their 95 percent market share in the TNVS industry lead to anti-competitive behaviors such as price hikes, reduced quality of service, and limited choices for consumers. Furthermore, the lack of competition also limited the opportunities for drivers and other TNVS service providers. It also holds a huge market share of on-demand app-based parcel and food delivery service,” Digital Pinoys said.

The group noted that the same app has “also ventured into ride-hailing service for tricycles, and recently, they acquired a motorcycle taxi company despite the industry still being in the pilot study program.”

“We are also pushing for the implementation of priviledges granted by law to special sectors such as senior citizens, persons with disability and solo parents on online apps. To date, only a few entities are granting discounts for PWDs and SCs but only for transportation services,” Digital Pinoys added.

According to Grab’s website, the cancellation rates were already lowered so the firm could “be able to match drivers more efficiently to passengers who really need a ride.”

“A passenger cancellation fee of Php50 will be charged if, 1. passenger cancels five (5) minutes after the time that booking has been allocated and if 2. passenger does not show up at the Pickup location within five (5) minutes from driver’s arrival. Php50 will be charged to the passenger’s GrabPay account. Non-GrabPay passengers will have to enable GrabPay before making further bookings,” it added.

“Over time, we will review our cancellation policy. We want to encourage passengers to make a booking and stick with it. Rest assured that our app will always give ample notice in the form of warning notifications before we deduct the fee,” the firm added.

Grab “sincerely believes this move will create a fairer platform for all passengers and drivers. Thank you for your support, as we work toward improving our ride experience to you.”