KUALA LUMPUR – The apparent shortage of drivers affiliated with e-hailing service provider Grab can be attributed to increasingly heavy traffic and fluctuating fare rates, leading to drivers either declining rides during peak hours or abandoning the service as a whole.
According to Grab Drivers Malaysia Association president Arif Asyraf Ali, many drivers registered with the mobile app regard commissions obtained during periods of high traffic as “not worth it”.
“Even if fares for consumers are higher during peak hours, drivers are stuck for hours in the jam, and our earnings from such trips do not make up for the time and petrol spent in traffic.
Traffic also causes available drivers to spend longer periods of time with a single customer, causing there to be a reduced chance of other customers getting a driver,” he told The Vibes.
He explained that while fares during off-peak hours might not be as high as when there is a surge in demand, drivers can take on more customers as they are able to complete jobs faster with less time wasted in traffic.
Pointing out the presently increasing road congestion, Arif said earnings from rides during rush hour are simply insufficient and do not make up for driving behaviour and related costs.
In a statement on May 24, Grab Malaysia stated that the sudden price fluctuations experienced by consumers are caused by a shortage of drivers, clarifying that there were no new price increases for their services.
The company said that the irregularities in supply and demand are driven by several factors, including the transition to the endemic phase and the recent lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.
Arif claimed that while there are definitely former e-hailing drivers who left because they found better jobs in their preferred sectors, the lack of government control over the setting of fares and the unstable nature of their income play a bigger part in drivers leaving the industry.
“Being an e-hailing driver is not the first option for anyone nowadays. If they have no other choice, only then will they resort to being a driver, as it is simply not profitable presently.
The instability of fare rates is definitely a reason why drivers lose interest in the e-hailing line, as they know that they will sometimes lose money instead of making a living,” he claimed.
Previously, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong said that the government does not regulate the base fare for e-hailing services, attributing price surges to supply and demand imbalances and high traffic volume.
Noting that a number of Grab e-hailing drivers have pivoted to the courier services offered by the app, Arif said that the decision is possibly motivated by a desire to avoid the “hassle” of dealing with customers.
“They can just chit-chat with their delivery packages instead of with people who might end up fighting with them and giving them a headache,” he said, adding that e-hailing and delivery drivers have the option to work for several platforms at once.
“They are not bound to any one service provider. They can choose for themselves which platform they think is the most worth it,” he said. – The Vibes, June 2, 2022
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