Grab Implements Unreasonable Cancellation Fee

Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading ride-hailing platform, has announced its updated ride policy that aims to reduce the chance of unreasonable cancellations for both drivers and passengers. Grab said that it is mindful that cancellations are frustrating for everyone -- whether for a passenger whose time was wasted, or for a driver who already spent fuel and effort to get to the pick-up point.

Grab now charges unreasonable cancellation
As part of its Better Everyday commitment, Grab continues to intensify its efforts to further reduce cancellations by promoting responsible use of its services. Grab tackles one of the core problems that brings down the quality of transport network vehicle services (TNVS) -- unreasonable cancellation behaviour.
  • For drivers, unreasonable cancellation behaviour includes forcing passengers to cancel the booking without proper reason, and being selective of passenger destination. 
  • For passengers, unreasonable cancellation behaviour includes excessive cancellations --- two times per hour, three instances a day, and or a total of 5 cancels per week. Passenger cancellations after 5 minutes upon booking confirmation and no-shows are also major concerns from drivers.
To eliminate excessive cancellations that affect the ride-sharing experience for both drivers and passengers, Grab has put in place a number of initiatives and policies to discourage cancellations on both sides.

For drivers:
  1. Completion rate. Drivers are penalized if they go below the required completion rate. Completion rate is computed based on completed bookings, cancellation rates, and ignored jobs. Completion rate also heavily affects incentives. 
  2. Driver Timeout. If a driver excessively ignores or cancels booking requests, they are locked out of the platform for a temporary period of time. 
  3. Ratings and Complaints Analysis. Drivers with passenger complaints and low star ratings are flagged. Grab gives out warnings, and suspends or eventually bans drivers over repeat offenses. 
  4. 5-Star Driver Tipping Feature. For drivers who go above and beyond, a new tipping feature allowing passengers to reward the drivers with 5-star rating has been rolled out. 
For passengers:
  1. 30 GrabRewards Points. When a driver cancels on a ride, the passenger automatically gets 30 GrabRewards points, which he or she can use to redeem items or vouchers in the GrabRewards catalog. 
  2. Passenger Timeout. After excessive cancellations, the passenger’s account will temporarily be suspended for 24 hours. 
  3. Cancellation Fees. PHP 50 fee will apply to passengers who cancel the ride after 5 minutes of getting assigned a driver.
  4. No-show Fees. PHP 50 fee will apply if a passenger doesn’t show up at the pick-up point within 5 minutes for GrabCar and 3 minutes for GrabShare upon the driver's arrival.
The cancellation fee incurred in the above situations will go directly to the driver, to compensate them for fuel and effort they have already spent travelling to the passenger.

“Grab is mindful that cancellations are frustrating for both the passengers and our drivers. At the same time, we are cognizant of the fact that sometimes, cancellations are necessary during special situations. Our intention in implementing this new policy is to create a better ride-hailing ecosystem, where both passengers and drivers practice the responsible use of the Grab platform,” Grab President Brian Cu said.

At the same time, to protect passengers, Grab has put in place a robust system so that fees are not charged in the following situations:
  1. No fee if passenger cancels within 5 minutes of getting assigned a driver.
  2. No fee if the driver isn’t moving towards the pick-up point (or going the wrong direction)
  3. No fee if the driver takes 15 minutes longer than the first estimated time of arrival (for example, if the passenger gets a driver who is 3 minutes away, but he or she has waited more than 18 minutes  for the driver to arrive, the cancellation is free)
  4. No fee if the driver indicates that he has arrived when he or she has not
  5. In addition, Grab promises to refund any fees that were charged wrongly within 48 hours, when reported via their in-app Help Centre.
Grab has notified the Land Transportation and Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) about it’s new cancellation policy.

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