Grab deactivated 15k TVS units since January, exec says

Since January this year, ride-hailing service Grab Philippines has deactivated around 15, 000 transport network vehicle services (TNVS) account for not complying with required documents.

In a hearing led by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) regarding the deactivation of some TNVS accounts on Tuesday, Grab Philippines head Brian Cu said that around 10,000 TNVS accounts have been deactivated from January to May this year.

“Starting January, for the last five months, around 10, 000 which include both active and inactive drivers,” Cu replied when asked by LTFRB chair Martin Delgra III about the number of deactivated TNVS accounts.

Recently, Grab Philippines initially announced that 8,000 TNVS accounts will be deactivated on June 10 due to lack of required documents submitted.

However, Cu clarified that only 5,000 of them has been deactivated after the 3,000 submitted the required documents before the June 7 deadline.

It means around 15, 000 TNVS accounts were deactivated by Grab this year so far.

In the hearing, Delgra questioned the scale and timing of the recent deactivation.

Cu explained that Grab Philippines cannot do a large scale deactivation before because the transport network company did not have information if drivers and operators already have the required documents.

The Grab Philippines president said that only in May this year they have obtained a copy of LTFRB’s master list of individuals with the required documents.

Comparing their list of TNVS accounts and LTFRB’s master list, Grab Philippines have identified whose accounts should be deactivated.

“The reason why we are able to do it now in large scale because we have the list that we can compare with,” Cu explained.

Cu pointed out that no other reason behind the deactivation of the 8,000 TNVS accounts but the non-compliance of affected drivers and operators. —NB, GMA News