Grab, JoyRide, GET Express admit to making their drivers absorb passenger discounts

“Grab was the first to admit in a Senate hearing on Dec. 10 that their drivers were shouldering a bigger portion of the 20% fare discounts for persons with disabilities (PWDs), senior citizens and students.

And then in a hearing by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Jan. 8, representatives from two other transport network companies (TNCs) – JoyRide and GET Express – disclosed that they were off-loading the discounts to their partner-drivers.

Nine other TNCs claimed they assumed 100% of the fare discounts as mandated by law.

It made sense why some drivers seemed hostile when accepting rides from discount-holder passengers like PWDs while others took longer time to pick up bookers that eventually led to cancellations, according to passengers who spoke with the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.

The disclosures prompted transport leader Jun De Leon to ask Grab to refund their drivers two days later.

“If the evidence warrants, we will issue them the appropriate suspension of their franchise,” LTFRB chair Teofilo Guadiz III warned at the hearing, reminding the TNCs about their responsibility to shoulder the discounts under memorandum circular 2015-016-A.”

At another hearing by the Senate committee on public services last Jan. 14, Guadiz said that the LTFRB would issue a circular in February mandating all TNC operators and app owners to assume 100% of the discounts.

“We are now drafting a memorandum circular, which will be implemented this February, wherein all of the discounts will now be shouldered by the TNC operator and by the owner of the app,” he said.”