YOURSAY | The price we have to pay for using Grab

YOURSAY | 'Since Ramadan, the fare has doubled or even tripled.'

Expensive rides: Passengers hit out at Grab's 'price bump'

Citizen_Zero: These are the facts about Grab prices.

1. When the movement control order (MCO) ended and things were opening up in January, Grab’s fares went up a bit, and even more when we were nearing the fasting month.

2. During Ramadan, it generally doubled.

3. During the Raya week, it tripled.

4. After Raya, it remained double the fare.

5. Even the peak hour fare is double the previous rates.

For number one, I gave them a chance as maybe their drivers went back to office work, or changed to other e-hailing/delivery companies or jobs.

For two, I gave them a chance as maybe Muslim drivers were out less, perhaps working shorter hours and taking rest during the breaking-fast time.

For three, I gave them a chance as Muslim drivers celebrated Raya and ‘balik kampung’, while other drivers went on holiday.

For four, maybe drivers have not returned from Raya and holidays.

For five, it's ridiculous. Something is wrong, and maybe on purpose.

It now costs me an average of RM50 to go and come back to any of the regular places I need to go. That is double or triple previous fares.

I have to think three times to justify going out. That means my freedom, rights and need to move have been compromised.

Grab has positioned itself as the main and preferred mode of public transport and doing this means it is holding consumers to ransom.

Having to go out is now a burden. A public transport provider should not be allowed to do this. This might as well be illegal.

Come to the end of the month, if nothing goes back to the previous normal affordable fares, a letter will go out to the anti-monopoly regulatory body, the Transport Ministry, MPs as well as the media. And yes, a police report will be lodged too.

GoldenCarp6484: Yes, since Ramadan, the fare has doubled or even tripled. I thought after Raya, the fare would return to 'normal' but it didn’t.

The reason given is that either there is no driver in the vicinity or there’s higher demand than normal, but that shouldn't be for the whole day.

For example, Grab charged me RM24 from Bangsar to Taman Desa, so I decided to take the taxi instead. Guess how much the metered taxi charged me? RM10.50.

Sayonara Grab, I am going back to the good old taxi.

JW: Grab has long explained that when you take their cabs during peak traffic hours, expect a higher fare than during off-peak hours. This has been a transparent proposition.

And this means that consumers who want to take Grab during peak traffic hours must expect to pay more than during off-peak hours.

Besides, consumers know ahead of time, before the ride. Grab tells you how much the fare would be before the driver comes to pick you up.

Don't assume that metered taxis are all innocent. When you take them during peak hours, the meter continues to run even though you are sitting in a non-moving taxi.

And, unlike Grab, you never know ahead of time how much the fare is going to be. Many times before, I was fleeced by them.

Aside from that, metered taxis have all kinds of issues long known previously. Many are not exactly friendly. Then, you have those who would not take you unless you first agree to a fare determined by them. The list goes on.

All these non-consumer friendly issues with metered taxis were the reasons why Grab was able to lure away customers from them when they first started.

So, to those who complain about Grab, avoid it by all means. Stay with the metered taxi. This is much better than crying to the government.

YellowShark3288: @JW, for many commuters, affordable public transport is not within reach. Imagine if you earn RM1,500 - with one-way travel at RM20, five days a week will cost RM400.

Grab wants a monopoly and is becoming worse than the metered taxis. The government should listen to the sufferings of thousands of commuters.

The Realist: That is life in a capitalist environment. If one feels that Grab is expensive, then the customers have a choice to use another alternative service.

That is economics driving the system that if prices of services become not competitive, substitution will come in. If the substitution service is acceptable, then the switching will occur. If the clientele drops, Grab likewise will either settle for a lower clientele or lower their price.

Complaining is a waste of time as it is foolhardy to expect a service to cater to our whims and fancies.

Public Transit Is Better Than Highways: This is why it's paramount that everyone must vote with their wallets, and instead give money to taxi services which are attempting to compete with Grab.

Grab's end game has always been very simple - price out everyone so they can take in the largest user base, then charge them the highest fee possible, knowing that there is no alternative in the market.

Once we have more prominent players in the market who can take on Grab, they won't be so much more confident charging exorbitant fees anymore.

BluePanther4725: This is what happens when the government lets Grab monopolise the taxi market. It's time to bring back fair competition into our market in the form of properly metered taxis, call taxis and other e-hailing companies.

Don't let businesses like Grab manipulate the market. In addition, it's not right for Grab to collect all the personal data and photos of the passengers. The law should prevent Grab from such unethical data collection.

Optimus: Indeed, this is the reason why there shouldn't be a monopoly in any business. This is the result of the decision to allow the demise of Grab’s competitor - Uber.

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