Grab Begins Trial for Cancellation Fee in Lampung and Palembang

Grab plans to apply for a cancellation fee for passengers who cancel trips, starting with trials in Lampung and Palembang (6/17) for a month. This trial intends to set the right parameter before being implemented throughout Indonesia.

Grab Indonesia's President, Ridzki Kramadibrata said, one of the parameters on cancellation fine is five minutes after ordering. Less from that, the passengers won't have to pay.

"We want to see customer's feedback in two cities, the algorithm used to measure the fairness because we have two kinds of users, passengers and drivers. I believe the passengers will be happy if the driver's happy," he said, (6/17).

However, he avoids spilling the fine cost. He thought this is just a trial. The consideration to apply cancellation fine is due to the driver's complaint of cancellation issues.

The thing is, it also costs them much when the order canceled, also, there's a missed opportunity of other passengers when picking up one passenger.

"It's fair to give a kind of treatment of cancellation form passenger. The driver will have their fines if they cancel an order from passengers."

Lampung and Palembang, he added, was chosen for the trial because it's not the first tier cities. They wish the complexity and impact of this trial won't be significant. Though, both cities are quite crowded with tourists.

Before taking the fines to Indonesia, Grab was previously applied in Singapore and Malaysia. In Singapore, it was started on March 11th, 2019. Passenger canceling after five minutes order will be fined with SGD4 or around Rp41 thousand.

While in Malaysia, passengers should pay 3 to 5 Ringgit (around Rp10 to Rp17 thousand) after five minutes order. The rules applied since March 27th, 2019.

Before selling its business to Grab for Southeast Asia's operation, Uber was also having a cancellation fee. In Indonesia, passengers will have to pay around Rp30 thousand for UberX (four-wheeler) and Rp10 thousand for Uber Motor (two-wheeler). The cost will be paid for the next order.

–Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian