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AFTER GETTING FINED

Do you know how much Grab will be refunding you? P1.50 on average


Passengers of app-based ride hailing service Grab Philippines should expect an average of P1.5 rebate following the Philippine Competition Commission’s (PCC) order to refund at least P5.05 million to its customers who were deemed “overcharged.”

On Monday, the PCC slapped Grab with P23.45 million of fines, and ordered the ride-hailing company to refund its passengers some P5 million in overcharges. 

The fines cover P11.3 million in penalties for the first quarter, P7.1 million for the second quarter, and P5.05 million for the third quarter.

The fines were imposed as Grab failed to meet the commitments it made to the government, according to the antitrust watchdog.

“We respect the decision of the board, and we will be disbursing the amount to the GrabPay wallets of consumers who took Grab rides from February to May 2019, in proportion to the total spend on the rides they took,” Grab Philippines president Brian Cu said in a press conference in Mandaluyong City.

An estimated 3.2 million passengers took trips in the app during the period in question.

“So you take P5 million over three million [passengers]... Ang average a passenger can get is P1.5,” Cu said.

“There are some who will get below a peso while some will get over a hundred pesos depende po ‘yun kung magkano [at] kung gaano karaming trips ang tinake niyo... Kasi its five million over three million passengers,” he said.

For his part, Grab legal counsel Miguel Aguila said the ride hailing firm is already in consultation with the PCC on the mechanisms to implement the refund to its riders.

“Under the commitment, kailangan namin sabihan ‘yung mga affected riders five days before we implement,” Aguila said.

“Ang deadline ng payment for the P5 million is 60 days from November 14,” the lawyer said, noting that Grab will push for an earlier date to implement the refund scheme or by December.

“Expect relevant riders to receive an in-app message from Grab and we will also post in our social media how this is done,” Aguila said.

No overcharging

Grab also clarified that the violations noticed by the PCC were not overcharges but “deviations” on faring range.

“Walang overcharging na nangyari... sangayon naman ito sa fare matrix ng LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board) which is the base fare, per kilometer fare times number of minutes with the component of surge allowed,” Cu said.

“We’ve been compliant with the fare matrix of the LTFRB so walang overcharging na nangyari... Nagkaroon po ng deviation sa faring range,” he said.

“If this is the fare from the min(imum) to the max(imum) titignan ng PCC ang fare of Grab relative to the min and the max. There needs to be a range where the fare exists... nag-deviate kami doon sa allowed margin within the range that’s the reason for the fine,” he added

Grab has earlier said that it will heed the PCC’s order.

“We respect the PCC and its mandate to protect the consumers in the Philippines and create a healthy competitive environment. Grab Philippines has worked closely with the PCC to form and finalize these voluntary commitments,” the company said.

“The antitrust body has identified certain deviations from Grab’s voluntary commitments, and based on the recent order from the PCC, Grab will be paying a total computed amount of P5,050,000 to the passengers who took Grab rides from February until May 2019.”

This is not the first time that the PCC imposed penalties on Grab. The company was fined P6.5 million in January this year for submitting incorrect data on its voluntary commitments.

In 2018, the PCC also imposed P16 million in fines against Grab and Uber for “undue difficulties” during a review of the merger agreement. — MDM, GMA News

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