MANILA, Philippines – Grab Philippines riders are set to receive another rebate as the Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) has imposed another multimillion-peso fine on the ride-hailing firm.

The PCC imposed a P16.15 million fine on Grab, P14.15 million of the amount to be refunded to its passengers.

The antitrust body released the order on Friday, December 13, based on the audit report of independent monitoring trustee Smith & Williamson. The firm was tasked to monitor Grab’s pricing commitments until August 10.

The latest fine imposed on Grab consists of P14.15 million for its “extraordinary deviation” from its pricing commitment and P2 million for exceeding driver cancellations.

The P14.15 million will be disbursed to the riders’ GrabPay wallets no later than February 10, 2020. Meanwhile, the P2 million administrative penalty will be paid to the PCC.

Grab said on Wednesday that the deviations from Grab’s voluntary commitments was caused by the lack of transport network vehicle services to supply the growing demand of the riding public. 

Grab was fined for every quarter in the initial undertaking of its commitments: P11.3 million in the first quarter, P7.1 million in the second quarter, and P5.05 million in the third quarter. 

The third and fourth quarter fines were ordered to be refunded to qualified Grab riders through their GrabPay accounts. Grab earlier said that the refund procedures for the third quarter P5.05-million fine will be announced in December.

For the third quarter fines, eligible riders would only get a refund of less than a peso up to P100. – Rappler.com