Surge in demand for Grab service

Following the suspension of rival Uber Systems Inc. last week, Grab Philippines reported a surge in demand for its service prompting them to invite their dormant drivers to reactivate.

Brian Cu, Grab Philippines head, yesterday said they are investing P5 million to give drivers incentives and get them back on the road.

“A P1 million per day incentives are being spread to encourage drivers to pick up and cancel less,” said Cu.

Unlike in Manila where the supply and demand imbalance is evident, Cebu’s situation is still manageable.

“Even with the influx of new demand, we have enough supply in Cebu,” said Cu.

He was one of the speakers of Mandaue Business Month Summit organized by the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Grab official also said that some Uber drivers were applying to shift to Grab, but these have not been acted upon to comply with the Land Transportation and Franchise Regulatory Board’s (LTFRB) moratorium against registering new vehicles to ride-sharing services.

Cebu alone has received 200 applications from Uber drivers since last week.

Cu also denied assertions on excessive price surges in fares.

He said that after Uber’s suspension last week, which resulted in a spike in the demand for rides, Grab voluntarily capped the price surge to a maximum of 1.4 times only.

“Our fares increased only marginally when comparing the period before and after Uber’s suspension. The rides that have a marginal increase due to the current supply-demand dynamics comprise about 96 percent of our serviced rides,” said Cu.

He added that they are also investigating why four percent of rides are priced higher after the Uber suspension.

“We surge more often because of the imbalance of supply and demand; thus, the passengers may experience higher fares in areas that had fewer surges before the Uber suspension. But even then, the surged fares are still comparatively lower now than a week ago, because of the cap that Grab put on its surge pricing,” he added.

Cu said Grab maintained fare prices to a reasonable level compared to pre-suspension periods.