Grab Philippines will refund its passengers the over P5 million of their fines to the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) for alleged high fare charges.
Recently, Grab paid P23.45 million because its fares were higher than what the PCC has set. More than P5 million of the fines would have to be returned to the passengers.
The PCC order is dated November 14, 2019, and Grab has two months or 60 days to refund its passengers.
Grab’s estimated 3 million passengers from February to May 2019 will receive a refund.
Each affected passenger is expected to receive approximately P1.50.
Those who book more often may get more, according to Grab.
Grab explained that even if they exceeded the fares PCC has set, they still comply with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s (LTFRB) fare matrix.
“Walang overcharging na nangyari (No overcharging happened). We disclose to the customer how we charge. We have been compliant all throughout,” explained Brian Cu, president of Grab Philippines.
Grab will give the passenger’s refund through their Grab Pay wallet.
The refund date has not been set, but it will happen before March next year.
Grab made sure that their riders would not be affected by the fine.
Grab is also considering whether to ask for a higher fare next year due to the hike in petroleum products tax.
In January 2019, the PCC again fined Grab ₱6.5 million for a lack of submitted fare monitoring data.
In October 2018, Grab Philippines and Uber paid ₱16 million penalties for violations.
According to Reuters, “Grab has a 93 percent share of the Philippines’ ride-hailing market, up from 45 percent when Uber was active.”