LTFRB orders Grab to pay P10M in penalties

The Land Transportation Regulatory and Franchising Board (LTFRB) has ordered transport network company Grab Philippines to pay P10 million in penalties for overcharging its passengers.

Department of Transportation (DOTr) communications director Goddess Libiran said the order was approved during a hearing earlier on Tuesday.

According to a copy of the order dated July 9, 2018, Grab will have to reimburse passengers who were charged P2 per minute from June 5, 2017 to April 10, 2018.

The rebate will take effect for 20 days from the time the decision becomes final or when Grab commences the implementation.

The LTFRB tasked Grab to submit a compliance report one week from the time the rebate has been completed.
 

Grab was ordered to pay P10 million for overcharging its passengers and to reimburse them by way of rebate for charging a P2 per minute travel time without authority from LTFRB.

Penned by LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III and LTFRB board member Ronaldo Corpuz, the order was also signed by LTFRB Board Member Aileen Lizada.

But there was a handwritten note above Lizada’s name saying she has a dissenting opinion on the matter.

“I signed the order with a comment: ‘I dissent. see separate Opinion’,” she told GMA News Online.

On the heels of a complaint lodged by PBA party-list Representative Jericho Nograles, Grab stopped the P2 per minute travel charge in April.

Grab Philippines country head Brian Cu has yet to respond to GMA News Online on the LTFRB order as of this posting.

Nogales, on the other hand, he said the penalty on Grab constitutes a “victory for consumer rights.”

“Let this be a stern warning to Grab and all other companies to follow the law or be exposed and be held accountable,” the lawmaker said in a separate text message on Tuesday.

Affected passengers need not go through additional steps to claim the rebate, the lawmaker said, and suggested it be “automatically implemented” in favor of their respective accounts. —VDS, GMA News