Davao City (CNN Philippines, August 18) — Transport network company Grab on Friday welcomed Uber drivers as it struggled to meet a rise in demand from commuters following its competitor’s one-month suspension.
Grab said its activation centers were reopened to help process the requirements of transport network vehicle service (TNVS) units who wished to operate with them.
“What we’ve done since yesterday was reopen our activation centers,” Grab country manager Brian Cu said in a news briefing. Cu was in Davao City for the Kadayawan festival.
Grab’s activation centers in July “were converted to TNVS help centers to assist operators to complete their requirements” after government regulators suspended new activations on July 17, Cu added.
Grab offices in Metro Manila, including Makati, Manila, Mandaluyong, and Valenzuela are are open from 9 a.m. to 12 midnight.
Cu said the Uber units which will operate under Grab will address the growing demands of commuters.
“Around 90 to one hundred thousand people booking, cannot get a car. These are not riders ignored by drivers. Actually no cars are available,” he said.
The shortage comes with the one-month suspension of Uber imposed by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on August 14 for allegedly violating its July 26 order prohibiting it from accrediting new TNVS.
Cu said they are willing to accommodate Uber-registered drivers as long as they pass all the requirements, which include:
Official receipt and certificate of registration
Actual driver app with rides prior to June 16, 2017
TIN ID
Comprehensive Insurance Policy
Valid clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)
The screening process will be stricter, in compliance with the LTFRB guidelines.
“They’ll go through a verification process where all documents will be screened. We’ve added a step in verification process to check when they have an Uber account, and when they signed up to Uber because according to resolution, we can only sign-up Uber drivers who joined on or before July 16,” Cu said.
“Because of this special circumstance, we do not activate until at least 24 hours, kasi po may audit, chine-check namin talaga na existing partner na siya (we’re really checking if the driver is already an existing partner through the audit),” he added.
The tax identification number, insurance policy, and NBI clearance may be submitted up to two weeks after application, he said. Those who fail to complete the requirements after the two weeks will be rejected.
Grab will abide by the LTFRB’s rules, including sending the list of registered drivers daily.
“Every day, what we’ll do is send LTFRB the drivers that signed up the previous day so they can cross reference against that list. If wala sa list (If they are not on the list), we won’t activate,” Cu said.
Grab earlier enforced a cap of 1.4 times on the fare to ensure prices of rides do not turn exorbitant.
Grab said it also partnered with the Philippine National Police’s Highway Patrol Group (HPG) in July to promote safety and security on the road.
The HPG will provide Grab drivers with training on road safety and courtesy, and orient them on efforts by police to curb anti-carnapping and anti-highway robbery .
Davao-based journalist Ben Tesiorna, and CNN Philippines’ correspondents Claire Jiao and AC Nicholls, and digital producer Ver Marcelo contributed to this report.
