It seems like private car hire apps are trying to one-up each other these days.
A few weeks back, Uber partnered up with ComfortDelGro to launch UberFlash, summing up a total of 28,3000 cars in its fleet.
And now, Grab is going to up the ante by launching GrabCar Plus in April.
What is GrabCar Plus
According to their site, it is a deluxe service where drivers can earn more as fares are increased by 20% and they have the option of rejecting GrabShare bookings.
This new feature will also mark the end of the GrabCar service.
This new service has superfluous criteria: only certain car models qualify, cars must not be older than 3 years for GrabCar economy drivers and 5 years for GrabCar premium drivers.
With that said, the drivers will still get bookings from JustGrab, GrabShare, GrabCar Premium and GrabFamily.
How do you qualify?
Your first 50 rides will be reviewed, and you have to maintain an acceptance rate of 90% and a driver rating of 4.8.
That is just the first hurdle.
To be part of this “super elite club”, you have to ensure that not more than 2% of your trips receive negative comments.
So, if your car is not in tiptop condition, chances are, you might get your “Plus” status revoked.
What do drivers think?
In an interview, Grab Driver, Johnny Tan said that the criteria is a high bar to meet and the strict criteria reduces the odds of drivers enjoying the incentives.
“The scheme also seems to be filtering out drivers, especially drivers with personal vehicles that are older than three years, and relegating them to compete with taxis on JustGrab,” he added.
Transport experts also gave their two cents
Transport economist at Singapore University of Social Science, DR Walter Theseira said: “There must be a segment of consumers who are willing to pay a little more, but not as much as GrabCar premium, for an assurance of quality… It is not too different from the ‘premium economy’ option that airlines offer.”
But he also expressed his scepticism, questioning the need for such a service in a small market where there isn’t a huge service gap.
I can see the value in other cities where there may be a larger difference in ride quality. It definitely makes more sense to push out this service in bigger cities, where cars could be older because there is no system (like the Certificate of Entitlement) to encourage drivers to change to newer models,” he added.
What do riders think about this new feature?
“I usually go for whatever is the cheapest. Most of the time JustGrab is cheaper, so I choose that, so if the GrabCar option is gone I don’t think it will make much of a difference to me,” said Grab rider Charissa Kow.
Personally, I don’t really care about the brand of the car, as long as it gets me from point A to point B.
Through efficiency and cheap costs, they manage to lure passengers from taxis to private cars and with this new feature, it’s like taking 10 steps back.
Are you going to pay more for a 30-minute ride?
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This article was first published on goodyfeed.com
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