Grab Phl accelerates innovation

Grab Philippines is ramping up its drive for innovation and service expansion, harnessing technology to foster inclusive growth and open more livelihood opportunities nationwide.

From enhancing digital solutions to broadening its ecosystem of services, the company is redefining mobility and on-demand services to empower more Filipinos.

Speaking on Straight Talk, DAILY TRIBUNE’s online show, on Wednesday, Grab Philippines Country head Ronald Roda highlighted the company’s commitment to continuously enhancing its platform to better serve Filipinos.

He said the company has designed affordability-focused initiatives such as GrabFood Saver Delivery, GrabFood Saver Meals, GrabCar Saver, GrabMart Saver Delivery and GrabUnlimited to make services more accessible while maintaining safety and convenience.   

“I welcome competition. We work fairly confident with the value we provide. There is a reason we cannot bring prices down. Being a tech app, we have a lot of tools to make trips safe. We have a monitoring tool, if there is something wrong, it will have an alarm and it will call you. We have a pretty good reporting system,” Roda said. 

Expanding its regional footprint, Grab has established operations in over 20 new cities across Visayas and Mindanao in 2024, with plans to further grow this year. The company aims to promote balanced regional development, allowing more Filipinos to participate in the digital economy. 

“The way we work outside Metro Manila is to localize what’s available. For example, in Zamboanga, we have a thousand tricycles now as the main transportation, which by the way has interesting challenges.

"The challenge is for example, out of the 5,000, only 500 can use the app, teaching them to use the phone was a challenge,” Grab executive Roda shared. 

To tackle this, Grab engaged local communities, enlisting tech-savvy children of drivers as consultants to teach them how to navigate the platform.

“We found out that the children of the drivers are far more tech savvy so we hired them as consultants to teach. Education is a big part,” he added. 

Forging relationships with regulators

Beyond service expansion, Grab actively collaborates with regulators to align with local laws and standards, maintaining an open dialogue with government agencies to highlight the positive impact of its ecosystem on urban mobility and local economies.

The company has worked closely with the National Privacy Commission on safety initiatives like AudioProtect, reinforcing its commitment to security and privacy. 

Notably, customer feedback plays a crucial role in Grab’s continuous development.

The company gathers insights through in-app surveys, its Help Center, and town hall meetings with driver and rider communities. Additional feedback channels, such as in-app star ratings and issue reporting via the Activity Tab, ensure a responsive approach to user concerns. 

“Every day you have to customize the tech and sometimes it’s the customer feedback that helps you improve,” Roda said. 

Ensuring compliance with government-mandated fare discounts for Senior Citizens, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), and students is also a priority.

Grab enforces a 20 percent fare discount while implementing verification measures to balance passenger rights with the welfare of driver-partners.

To prevent fraudulent claims — an issue affecting one in three SC/PWD/Student bookings — drivers are now required to request physical proof of identification.