Over 40,000 Overcharged in Grab Rides Between 20 Nov to 4 Dec Due to Outdated ERP Rates

Technical Glitch in Grab App Leads to Overcharging of 40,000 Riders

Perhaps recently, some of us have been wondering why the cost of our Grab rides are unusually high.

It turns out there’s a valid reason behind these inflated charges: over 40,000 passengers were overcharged due to outdated Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) rates applied to their fares.

This error affected a staggering total of more than 40,000 passengers who used the Grab service from 20 Nov to 4 Dec.

During this period, Grab, unfortunately, failed to update the ERP rates in their system, leading to a widespread overcharging issue impacting 60,787 trips.

The root of this problem can be traced back to 15 November when the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced special ERP rates effective from 20 Nov to 31 Dec 2023.

These changes, made in anticipation of the year-end school holidays, included a $1 decrease in ERP rates at 23 gantries across 10 locations.

However, this crucial adjustment was not mirrored in the Grab mobile app, which calculates ride fees automatically.

A technical glitch prevented the updated ERP rates from being incorporated into Grab’s fare calculation system.

On 22 Dec, a Grab spokeswoman addressed the issue, acknowledging that the failure to update the ERP rates in their system after the LTA’s rate reduction led to this overcharging error, according to The Straits Times.

As a result, 40,431 passengers were charged an additional $1 more than the correct fare.

The error came to light following numerous passenger complaints, prompting the LTA and the Public Transport Council (PTC) to direct Grab to review its data and identify the overcharged trips.

Following the discovery, Grab confirmed that they have corrected the ERP charges in their backend system and have taken steps to reimburse all affected passengers.

The LTA and PTC are continuing to investigate the incident.

They emphasised that ride-hail service operators are responsible for ensuring that fares charged to passengers are accurate.

This incident highlights how even minor errors in a large-scale company like Grab can have significant repercussions.

The Grab spokeswoman pointed out that this mistake apparently affected only a small percentage of Grab’s rides.

Since the discovery of the overcharging, Grab has extended a sincere apology to its consumers for the inconvenience caused.

If you happen to be one of the affected riders but have not received a refund, you can report the matter to the relevant authorities for resolution.