On heels of Uber driver campaign, Grab ups the ante with new driver features
Grab drivers can declare their trips “positive” or “negative” and indicate why they gave those ratings, be it because of the route or passengers. TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — Less than a month after Uber kicked off a campaign to improve things for its drivers, rival Grab has followed suit with a slew of new features, including one that allows drivers to rate their trips and a hotline dedicated to helping drivers in emergencies, such as accidents.
Drivers can declare their trips “positive” or “negative” and indicate why they gave those ratings, be it because of the route or passengers, the ride-hailing company said on Wednesday (Dec 6).
Drivers can now also keep tabs on their earnings and progress towards incentive targets in their app via daily and weekly income statements and “incentive progress bars”, obviating the need to check their email or telephone the call centre.
Another feature allows drivers to specify up to two preferred destinations daily, so that they are matched to rides going in that direction — akin to a feature Uber introduced last month. This feature allows Grab drivers to take several bookings on their way home, for instance.
The features will be rolled out progressively to all Grab drivers in the coming weeks.
Speaking to TODAY by phone, Grab Singapore head Lim Kell Jay said the new features bloomed from fortnightly feedback sessions it holds with its drivers and were three to six months in the making. The campaign, called Better 365, will run indefinitely, with no “end date” set, he added, declining to say how much the campaign will cost.
He also said the move was not in response to the three-month campaign Uber launched last month to make driving more attractive for its drivers, for instance, by scrapping the requirement to accept at least eight out of 10 rides to qualify for incentives.
Mr Lim noted that the new rating feature allowed drivers to give feedback on rides that Grab can act on quickly. Previously, drivers had to call or email the company.
An example of feedback from drivers that it could act on is educating commuters on its family-friendly option via means such as app messages and email, Mr Lim cited. Drivers have said passengers travelling with young children are unhappy when they book a regular private-hire car and find out on the spot that they cannot take the rides because there is no child restraint on board, unlike cars under the GrabFamily option.
Noting the time savings some of these features bring, Mr Lim said: “Time is money for (drivers). That is how they would improve their incomes.”
Grab’s latest move comes on the back of its aggressive wooing of drivers in recent months.
In September and October, it dangled heavily discounted rental rates to enthuse ComfortDelGro taxi drivers to cross over.
Last month, the company offered to scrap the 20-per-cent commission it takes for each completed ride and charge only 60 cents per ride for those who switch, attracting interest from more than 1,000 ComfortDelGro drivers within three days.
Pressed for an update on Wednesday, Mr Lim said the campaign has ended but declined to comment on the take-up rate, citing unspecified sensitivities.
Hinting at a continuation of similar campaigns going forward, he said: “There will be other things that will be rolled out ... We’ll keep iterating on our programme.”
