DESPITE COMPLAINTS IT’S GETTING EXPENSIVE, GRAB MALAYSIA NOW WANTS TO CHARGE RM3 TO RM5 CANCELLATION FEE FROM MAR 25

Grab Malaysia will start charging a fee on passengers who cancel or who are late to their ride after a certain allowed amount of time starting from March 25.

In an updated Passenger Cancellation Policy, Grab says passengers who cancel their rides five minutes after getting a driver, will be charged a fee ranging from RM3 to RM5. The exact amount depends on the type of vehicle or service that the passenger has ordered.

For services like GrabCar, GrabTax (metered or executive) and JustGrab for Airport, the cancellation fee is RM3. For a six-seater GrabCar or 10-seater JustGrab, it’s RM4. While for services like GrabCar Premium or GrabCar Luxe where a passenger orders a Vellfire for the airport, it’s RM5.

Grab says it will also be charging passengers an RM5 fee when a driver cancels a ride after waiting at a pick-up point for more than five minutes.

For GrabShare rides, passengers have three minutes to arrive at the pick-up point before the driver is entitled to cancel the ride.

For each booking, passengers may be charged between RM3 to RM5 for late cancellation or charged RM5 after the driver cancels the ride for waiting more than five minutes. The company says it will not charge both fees at the same time.

Passengers will not be charged if they cancel within five minutes of getting a driver. Drivers are also required to wait for five minutes or three minutes if they are performing GrabShare services before they are entitled to charge a cancellation fee.

The company says that the cancellation fee will be waived if a driver does not arrive within 10 minutes after the first-shown estimated time of arrival. An example of this situation is when a passenger is allocated a driver who is three minutes away. But when the passenger has waited for more than 13 minutes, the cancellation fee will be waived.

In an event where a passenger wants to cancel after waiting for too long, Grab encourages the customer to contact the driver via call or GrabChat.

The company assures that it has measures in place to detect if a driver is not moving towards the customer.

For passengers who are on GrabPay, the cancellation fee will be deducted directly from GrabPay credits balance or credit/debit card. The fee will be added automatically to the next ride fare for passengers who are paying by cash.

The company promises that 100% of the cancellation fee will be allocated towards the driver as compensation for his or her time on the road.

Grab also says that it expects the new cancellation fee policy to affect less than 1% of bookings as most passengers don’t cancel after booking.

THE STAR