Coming from blindside
The company is already in hot water after the Philippine Competition Commission revealed during a congressional hearing of the Metro Manila Development Committee that Grab continued to increase fares even after Grab’s voluntary commitment not to overcharge.
As the holiday season breezes in, the first Christmas season in two years when the whole nation is stretching its legs after a lethargic two years of the pandemic, every Filipino wanted to get life back to normal.
The situation appears to be being taken advantage of by some of the big boys of private business, the reason for government regulators to remain vigilant.
Electricity prices are bound to spike after San Miguel Corp. unilaterally terminated its power supply agreement with Meralco which will ultimately result in higher electricity prices.
The SMC move puts Meralco in a tight spot since it will have to cover the huge hole that energy unit SMC Global Power caused in power supply which means buying from the spot market at higher prices.
A similar attempt at blindsiding consumers is suspected in the transport sector.
In a 6 December hearing at the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board, dominant ride-hailing firm Grab Philippines virtually admitted overcharging passengers through its implementation of the surge fare.
The LTFRB launched the investigation after complaints were filed against the transportation network vehicle service provider.
The complaint centered on Grab's surge fare especially because passengers are often caught flatfooted by the spike in fares at certain intervals.
Grab was asked to explain in the hearing when the upswing in the fare amount happens given the factors involved such as time of the day, travel distance, and the amount of fare adjustment.
Meanwhile, members of the LTFRB board reprimanded Grab officials for increasing fare prices. Grab explained they are indeed imposing higher charges to avoid short trips.
Grab may now face a huge fine since the complainants wanted a refund, on top of a P5 fine for every incident of overcharging. The LTFRB is set to conduct its next hearing on 13 December.
The company is already in hot water after the Philippine Competition Commission revealed during a congressional hearing of the Metro Manila Development Committee that Grab continued to increase fares even after Grab's voluntary commitment not to overcharge.