(Eagle News) — Grab Philippines on Thursday, April 19, said it would appeal the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board order suspending its imposition of a P2 per minute of travel time extra charge on riders.
In a statement, Grab said the charge was, after all, “legal” and was based on a 2015 Department of Transportation and Communications order that authorized TNCs to set their own fares.
Brian Cu, Grab country head, said in the statement this 2015 order “did not require TNCs to file petitions on fares.”
Neither were they required, he said, to inform the LTFRB.
“Even so, we still informed the LTFRB during a technical work group meeting and in an official e-mail,” Cu said.
The LTFRB said they were informed but only “after the fact.”
Cu said that while the “unilateral fare-setting prerogative” was “taken away” by a new department order in 2017, “fares set before that will remain and only future adjustments are covered.”
“If the P2 per minute fare component is stopped…drivers will not earn enough and will be left with no option but to leave their job as a (Transport Network Vehicle Service), resulting in even fewer vehicles for the riders,” Grab said.
Grab said if this happens, “it will take longer for riders to get a ride and if there are not enough cars, surge may go up.”
As a result, it said “other passengers booking from far locations may be left unallocated.”
“We hope the public realizes that this P2 per minute fare component was implemented for their own benefit and not Grab’s,” Cu added.
