MANILA, Philippines – Ride-hailing company Grab Philippines said drivers suffered a 5% to 10% drop in income since the P2-per-minute travel charge was suspended.

In a press briefing on Thursday, July 5, Grab Philippines head Brian Cu said they have lowered commissions from rides driven by top drivers, to help augment driver incomes.

“In terms of how much we’ve lost, it’s hard to say, we haven’t quantified it. But what we’ve seen is a drop in driver income of around 5-10%, which we came back with by lowering our commissions for the top-tier drivers, working that up to our subsidy, ‘yung mga luging biyahe. (losing trips),” Cu said.

Grab earlier said that they will be providing subsidies to drivers, especially to trips that fall below P5.50 per minute or P330 per hour, which is the ideal amount a driver should earn.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) suspended Grab’s P2-per-minute travel charge last April 18, after a hearing on PBA Representative Jericho Nograles accusation that Grab illegally charged its customers.

Cu also stated that the LTFRB will standardize the pricing policy of transport network companies (TNCs) this month. Ride-hailing companies met with the LTFRB on Thursday morning for the policy.

According to Leo Gonzales, Grab Public Affairs Manager, all TNCs will be placed under a certain range of fares under this standardized pricing policy.

“We don’t know yet exactly how [the standardized fare structure] will affect our [fare hike] petition, but the petition as of now is still pending with the board,” Gonzales said.

Grab earlier said that only around 30,000 drivers are available for over 600,000 bookings daily. (READ: Brian Cu: Grab driver cancellations down by 50%)

Cu said they are trying to reactivate dormant drivers who are already on the platform.

But Grab had also called on the LTFRB to start accepting new drivers, while still adhering to the 66,750-cap for ride-hailing vehicles, to help close the gap between bookings and served trips. – Rappler.com

Loreben Tuquero is a Rappler intern