Grab has announced that peak hour fares for its e-hailing service in the Klang Valley will be increased effective today on 16 January 2023. The move aims to provide its driver-partners with fairer compensation, ensuring that the entirety of their trip – from passenger pickup to drop off during these high traffic periods – are worth their while.
The company says driver-partners have complained that the existing peak hour fares barely compensate them sufficiently for time spent in a jam. With that, Grab has now revised the structure so that affected fares are based more on the time taken to complete the ride and less on the distance taken. More specifically, it is revealed that the fare per minute rates have now increased from RM 0.20 to RM 0.43, while the fare per km is reduced from RM 0.70 to RM 0.25. These changes ensure that overall fare levels remain roughly unchanged on the regular, but will gradually increase during peak hours.
As per Grab’s FAQ page, fares are calculated by base fare + (trip distance x fare per km) + (trip duration x fare per minute). For example, a 10 km trip that takes 30 minutes during peak hours would cost the passenger RM 18, whereas a 10 km trip that takes 10 minutes during regular hours would cost RM 11. When compared to the previous rates, the former would cost lower at RM 15, while the latter would be slightly higher at RM 12.
Additionally, the company is also providing driver-partners with new incentives, including Far Pickup Bonus and Hourly Cashback. The first of which replaces the previous Time Booster incentive, where drivers now receive a compensation of RM 0.25 to RM 0.35 for each minute of pickup after 5 minutes. This is aimed at providing a more consistent compensation based on pickup time regardless of the fare amount, with higher rates applicable during peak hours.
Meanwhile, the latter provides driver-partners with cashback multipliers based on the number of rides they’ve completed in previous weeks. Grab notes that JustGrab to and from KLIA, MyDestination rides, as well as taxi driver-partners are not eligible for this incentive.
(Source: Grab [official website])
