Grab must be slapped with hefty fines for violations, solon claims

Grab Philippines must be fined for such business practices as not issuing a detailed official receipt, a party-list lawmaker claimed on Wednesday.

PBA party-list Representative Jericho Nograles issued the statement a day after he called on Grab to refund customers some P1.8 billion in overcharged fares.

Grab’s customers are obviously “being taken for a ride” when the ride-hailing company claimed that the fares are fixed and with no hidden per-minute charges, Nograles said.

“All along we all thought that Grab rates are based on approved rates and we are not being charged extra for our travel time,” the lawmaker said“It turns out that Grab automatically incorporates a P2 per-minute charge on travel time based on the fare calculation made by the Grab app,” the lawmaker noted.

Grab does not even issue a receipt with a detailed breakdown of the charges, according to the lawmaker.

“Obviously Grab doesn’t want us to know that we are being charged extra, and that is against the law. That is against the provisions of our existing consumer laws, particularly Republic Act 7394 or the Consumer Act of the Philippines,” he said.

“Providers of goods and services are required by law not just to issue official receipts but also a detailed breakdown of what were paid for,” Nograles noted.

Nograles, who took a Grab ride from Makati to Quezon City, said he asked for a receipt with a breakdown of his fare.

But since none of the company’s customer service representatives could give him a detailed receipt, he had to make a request handled by the company’s Public Affairs manager Leo Gonzales.

Details of the fare Gonzales provided showed that on top of the approved P11-per kilometer fare amounting to P246.98 for a travel distance of 22.25 kilometers, Nograles was charged an additional P118 for a travel time of 59 minutes or P2 per minute.

There was also a P40 base fare equivalent to a taxi’s flagdown rate.

“This means that the claim and publication of Grab that they don’t charge per minute is a brutal lie. High tech ang panloloko at systematic pa,” the lawmaker alleged.

“By the time you get a Grab, the fare computations ... shown on our Grab app, which looks like a fixed rate, already contains the per-minute charge. This is unconscionably illegal and must warrant a legal action by the Land Transportation and Regulatory Board (LTFRB),” Nograles claimed.

Grab should be slapped with fines for these violations and be required to refund its patrons, according to the lawmaker.

“Gumawa sila ng iligal, kailangan may penalty sila. Dapat imbestigahan itong pangyayari na ito. Hustisya ang kailangan natin,” he said.

Nograles intends to file a resolution calling for a probe into the alleged violations of Grab when Congress resumes in May. —Erwil Colcol/VDS, GMA News