Price War Has Begun Again: GrabCar Slashed Fare Up to 15%

You would have expected this, wouldn’t you?

With Uber, Grab and traditional taxis fighting for the pie, you can expect a price war. Or many price wars. Not that it hasn’t happened: Grab and Uber have been coming out with a series of time-based promotions (even one that involved Joseph Schooling!), while traditional taxis have been giving out e-coupons for passengers who sign up or download their app.

The latest company to strike is Grab, a company founded in Malaysia and now headquartered in Singapore. The latest promotion that we’re aware of is an innovation deal in which you’ll get $3.00 off for any ride from an MRT Station in the Red or Purple Line. That, however, ended on 2 September 2016.

Today (5 September 2016), Grab announced a price slash that’ll make Uber shiver: the new base fare is down to $2.55 from $3.00, and its per KM travelled is down to $0.68 from $0.80.

Price Drop
Image: grab.com

Now, for compassion’s sake, the base fare for UberX, the most affordable Uber service, is $3.00. The per KM travelled is $0.45, but there’s an addition per minute travelled at $0.20 per minute.

For traditional taxi, the base fare is from $3.20 to $3.90, with the total fare based on both distance and idling time (like the wait at traffic lights).

It’s therefore very difficult to judge which is still cheaper, as there are a few factors to consider.

GrabCar’s latest price slash was in April 2016, when the base fare was reduced from $3.50 to $3.00. This was following UberX’s reduction of their base fare from $3.00.

So, would UberX do a counter-attack and lower their fares as well? We consumers would definitely love that, but how about the drivers?

Here’s GrabCar’s response in their Facebook Page.

Image: Facebook (Grab)
Image: Facebook (Grab)

Maybe the drivers should be worried about even a greater threat: driverless taxis.

Feature Image: Grab.com

This article was first published on goodyfeed.com