Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles on Monday dismissed as “an act of desperation” the P5-million suit filed against him by Grab Philippines.
Nograles said it was expected since he had been critical against the ride-hailing company which he said owed the riding public over P4 billion due to its P2 per minute fare charge that was illegally charged to its patrons.
“The P5-million damage suit against me is nothing more than an act of desperation in retaliation to the recent LTFRB Order declaring the charges of Grab Philippines as illegal,” Nograles said.
He said the Grab’s filing of a damage suit against him “comes as no surprise as there is no end to the greed of a company that demands slave-like hours and immoral commission rates from its drivers.”©”©“
Nograles, a House deputy majority leader, called on the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to enforce its earlier order for Grab to refund the billions of pesos in illegal charges, as ordered and without any further delay.
The LTFRB earlier ordered the Grab to reimburse its passengers through rebates in connection with the P2 per minute charge.
“The LTFRB Order confirms that Grab Philippines has engaged in illegal overcharging affecting 67 million total rides from June 2017 to April 2018. They have lied to and cheated their riders and have also endangered the livelihood of their partner-drivers. Their illegal acts are also tantamount to large-scale estafa,” Nograles, who was the one who exposed the alleged illegal charge, earlier said.
Nograles said that each Grab ride had an estimated length of 30 minutes.
With 67 million rides during that span, this equates to an overcharging of P4.02 billion.
“Since this illegal P2 per minute fare was unilaterally imposed by Grab and it is totally unknown to the drivers, the fine and the refund should be solely shouldered by the company,” Nograles said.
The LTFRB earlier told Grab to refund its passengers immediately once the decision had been made final.