The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has announced that it is ordering Grab to refund its customers PHP 5.05 million.
On November 18, the PCC has announced that it fined Grab amounting to PHP 23.45 million for breaching its pricing commitment during the 1st to 3rd quarters of the initial Undertaking. It covers a PHP 11.3 million penalty for the 1st quarter, PHP 7.1 million for the 2nd quarter, and PHP 5.05 million for the 3rd quarter. The latter will kick off the refund to affected Grab riders.
One of Grab’s commitments includes a System-Wide Average Fare Cap commitment. which says that “Grab shall ensure that its Overall Average Fare for the monitoring month shall not exceed the System-Wide Average Fare Cap for the corresponding month. The monthly average fare cap restricts Grab’s ability to increase prices beyond pre-transaction levels, limiting the average fare increase to 22.5% in most months.”
“In the event that Grab breaches its monthly average fare cap commitment, PCC shall fine Grab PHP 2 million per month. As additional deterrence, the Commission also introduced the disgorgement system wherein Grab shall return to its riders its commissions in excess of the System-Wide Average Fare Cap for the affected month.”
In a statement sent to CNN Philippines, Grab Philippines said that they will be paying a total computed amount of PHP 5,050,000 to the passengers who took Grab rides from February until May 2019.
The PCC wants Grab to pay the affected riders directly through their individual GrabPay accounts within 30 days from Grab’s receipt of PCC’s notice of the breach. The amount to be refunded shall be in proportion to the fares paid by the riders during the relevant month.
source: PCC, CNN Philippines
Kapag sa ibang “regular” private entities tulad ng Grab, na-i-implement naman ng maayos ang mga batas at nagkakaroon pa ng tamang penalties. Bakit hindi ganito ang nangyayari sa mga government officials at offices at sa mga “malalakas ang kapit” tulad ng globe na madalas walang internet connection, bpi na ilang beses na nagkaroon ng data errors, water suppliers na walang ginawang solution sa shortage, atbp.