Grab ‘seriously considering’ motorcycle taxi business anew

RIDE-HAILING company Grab Philippines said on Wednesday it is “seriously considering” to get into the motorcycle taxi business again.

“For us, it’s easy to return to that. Obviously, there are safety training [programs] that we need to do for our bikers, but we are fairly confident of our safety record on two-wheels,” Ronald Roda, Grab Philippines’ head of transport and shared services, said at a virtual briefing on Wednesday.

He added: “Yes, it is something we are seriously considering.”

Grab will also be talking again to the Department of Transportation and the  Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board for the possible return of its motorcycle service.

The government’s task force on pandemic response has allowed the operations of motorcycle taxis.

The Transportation department said it would implement the task force’s decision once it receives the guidelines.

An inter-agency task force overseeing motorcycle taxis will be reconvened to regulate and monitor their operations, it added.

Grab announced separately on Wednesday that it added a “cash-in with driver” feature to its mobile app for GrabCar.

The new feature, which will be fully rolled out next month, allows cash-paying customers to cash-in their GrabPay wallets by paying cash to their drivers.

With the “cash-in with driver” feature, cash-paying commuters “can easily transition towards cashless and unlock the many benefits that GrabPay has to offer – from GrabRewards points that can be used to save on Grab transactions, dedicated deals and promotions, as well as safe and seamless cashless payments across GrabPay’s wide array acceptance partners,” Grab said in a statement.

Mr. Roda said: “Through this innovation, we hope to help ease the cashless barrier for our commuters by enjoining our driver-partners to not only provide a safe and reliable means of transportation, but to also help more Filipino commuters embrace cashless payment, and unlock the many benefits that await them with GrabPay.”

Grab currently serves 18 cities in the country. Its operations include ride-hailing and on-demand food-delivery app, as well as groceries and package delivery, concierge services, bill payments, and financial services. — Arjay L. Balinbin