Grab to 'fine you back' when you cancel a ride

This is a revenge fantasy every Grab driver has had, and a haunting nightmare to the common Grab passenger.

Being a Grab passenger is a lot of things. It's about self-rule. It's about freedom and liberation from the conventionally rude taxi drivers who swindles you at the smallest opportunity. You say that "the customer is always right," but if you're someone like me, you'd say it's always been a two-way street.

A transport network vehicle service (TNVS) should be a good experience not only for riders, but for drivers as well. So if you're inclined to give a low rating to a Grab driver you think didn't do well in his job, he might also be thinking of rating you back. Probably lower when you cancel on your bookings. If you have a low passenger rating due to frequent cancellations of bookings, it might be harder for you to get picked up in the future. If Grab only had a 'fine-for-cancellation' policy against riders, you'd be spending money for fines alone.

But it was just a matter of time. On Tuesday, ride-hailing giant Grab announced to media its plan to impose fines or 'cancellation fees' on passengers who would cancel their bookings, and this is most likely to happen sometime before July this year.

Though it said the move is part of the company's 100-day plan to improve driver performance and rider experience, it's also a move to improve rider behavior.  Grab drivers shouldn't have to deal with finger-snapping riders who couldn't care less when they cancel bookings at the last minute. As Grab statistics show, drivers cancel only 8 percent of the time, compared with 12 percent by passengers. Grab drivers are only allowed to cancel 5 percent of his trips. Anything beyond that means he has to face sanctions such as suspension or blacklisting from the company.

There is no final scheme yet on how much Grab will charge a rider due to cancellation, but it said it would only impose fines “within the limits” of the waiting time—the time a passenger’s ride is supposed to show up at the pickup point. The standard waiting time is seven minutes for GrabCar and three minutes for GrabShare.


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