Grab Philippines said the overwhelming demand and severe undersupply of cars resulted in long waits and higher fares for passengers.
Grab said it received about 600,000 passenger booking requests each day, but only 35,000 vehicles were available to serve the riding public.
Country head Brian Cu said that before Grab’s acquisition of Uber in April this year, Grab, with 24,000 vehicles, served 60 percent to 65 percent of bookings, while Uber with 19,000 vehicles, had a success rate of 50 percent.
Cu said with the merger of the two transport network vehicle service providers, only 11,000 of the 19,000 active Uber vehicles moved to Grab.
He said the gap was represented by 6,000 Uber drivers who could no longer continue driving because they were not a part of Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s audited masterlist.
Cu said as a result, only 53 percent of passengers were able to get a ride on their first booking attempt, but fell to as low as 37 percent on average during peak hours.
“Driver numbers continue to drop as uncertainty in maintaining sustainable livelihood increases. With the recent suspension of P2-per-minute fare, a lot of drivers and operators fear they won’t be able to provide for their families and car maintenance expenses,” Cu said.
“Majority of social media sentiment we monitor regarding the inability to get a ride is due to the perception of choosy drivers, but in reality this is because there are no available cars in the area. We are reassuring the riding public that we are addressing their concern regarding undisciplined drivers and we are thankful for their understanding of the current situation,” he said.
Cu said the demand and supply situation of TNVS in the Philippines was serious and needed the collaboration of regulators and ride-hailing companies.
“We need more cars to serve the riding public. We appeal to the LTFRB to allow the displaced 6,000 Uber drivers who are not part of the masterlist to continue driving with their chosen TNC in order to support the demand. With an average of 12 rides a day, this is already an additional 72,000 rides, which can help ease the plight of the riders,” Cu said.
“While we collaborate with regulators to find a solution to the supply situation, we remain committed to improving our services to our passengers and drivers. In the meantime, we encourage our riders to maximize available vehicles by sharing their ride with other passengers using GrabShare. We will continue to refine our incentives structure to support our partners who tirelessly drive to bring passengers to their destinations,” Grab country marketing head Cindy Toh said.
“We thank our passengers for their understanding and for pushing us to improve. We are hopeful we can all work together to ensure the sustainability of the industry,” Toh said.