Business
Grab-Uber deal leaves Vietnamese drivers and passengers in confusion
Leaving aside the concerns over Grab`s monopoly after the merger, the apparent consequences for both consumers and taxi drivers have been firmly exposed.
Uber and Grab united “under one roof" from April 8, ending the long, fierce competition between the two high-tech taxi companies in Vietnam.
Taxi drivers moaning
As a regular customer of Uber for many years, Tran Thanh Huyen (Dai Mo ward, Nam Tu Liem district) said: "I had used Grab several times to experience and compare services, however afterwards I still decided to go back to Uber. The best thing about Uber, compared to Grab, is that drivers are not allowed to know the destination beforehand, hence they almost never refuse to serve in case of short distance.”
“Grab drivers, on the other hand, know the destination in advance, thus they are willing to cancel the trip if the route distance is too short.” A lot of consumers also complain, during the peak hours, the charge for using Grab services is more expensive in comparison to Uber; yet after the merger, they have no other choices but Grab.
As an investigation by Hanoitimes reveals, four days after the merger between Uber and Grab, the operation of the high-tech taxi market still looks relatively bleak. As reported by many drivers, the number of customers using Grab services in the past four days is somewhat lower than before the merger.
Doan Van Thu, a Grab Car driver at Big C Thang Long (on Tran Duy Hung street), said he had provided taxi service through Uber before, but when the two companies merged, he had to join Grab to maintain his “fishing rod.”
"In the past, on average, there was a service call nearly every 5-10 minutes. Yet from the merger to date, calls from customers become less and less frequent," said Thu.
According to Thu, the declining number of customers is not the biggest worry of the Grab drivers; instead, it is the overtly high discount rate paid to the parent company. With VAT included, Grab drivers who have been working with the company for a long time have to pay 24.5%; while for the "new drivers" who have just left Uber to join Grab, this discount goes up to nearly 29%. In order to survive a series of difficulties, the driver has no choice except working extra hours to compensate for the reduced income.
Clarification of market share after merger
Vu Vinh Phu, the former Chairman of the Hanoi Supermarket Association told Hanoitimes that on the merger between Uber and Grab, there are still mixed opinions; yet after the merger, the most noticeable issue is Uber driver group joining Grab are facing difficulties.
Also, compared to Uber before, Grab does not have as many promotions. The benefits for consumers are also reduced. He believes it is necessary to clarify whether Grab market share accounts for 30% of the market after the merger with Uber. "If occupation of 30% or more of the market share exists, then in accordance with the current law, control measures must be applied to Grab, including the service cost issue", Phu said.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Van Thanh, Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, stated that determining the market share of Grab is what the authorities can surely do.
"Input for determination of Grab’s market share should be based on the number of vehicles involved in piloting the electronic contract. A joint effort between the Ministry of Transport in with the Ministry of Industry and Trade may help identify how many cars there are upon the merger of Uber and Grab," Thanh analyzed.
However, according to Thanh, the determination of market share after the merger should be carried out urgently. Because if it is delayed, it may lead to the situation that the merger of these two companies may have been completed before the results of the investigation on Grab’s market share became available, then in that case it would be very difficult to intervene.
Taxi drivers moaning
As a regular customer of Uber for many years, Tran Thanh Huyen (Dai Mo ward, Nam Tu Liem district) said: "I had used Grab several times to experience and compare services, however afterwards I still decided to go back to Uber. The best thing about Uber, compared to Grab, is that drivers are not allowed to know the destination beforehand, hence they almost never refuse to serve in case of short distance.”
Illustrative photo
|
“Grab drivers, on the other hand, know the destination in advance, thus they are willing to cancel the trip if the route distance is too short.” A lot of consumers also complain, during the peak hours, the charge for using Grab services is more expensive in comparison to Uber; yet after the merger, they have no other choices but Grab.
As an investigation by Hanoitimes reveals, four days after the merger between Uber and Grab, the operation of the high-tech taxi market still looks relatively bleak. As reported by many drivers, the number of customers using Grab services in the past four days is somewhat lower than before the merger.
Doan Van Thu, a Grab Car driver at Big C Thang Long (on Tran Duy Hung street), said he had provided taxi service through Uber before, but when the two companies merged, he had to join Grab to maintain his “fishing rod.”
"In the past, on average, there was a service call nearly every 5-10 minutes. Yet from the merger to date, calls from customers become less and less frequent," said Thu.
According to Thu, the declining number of customers is not the biggest worry of the Grab drivers; instead, it is the overtly high discount rate paid to the parent company. With VAT included, Grab drivers who have been working with the company for a long time have to pay 24.5%; while for the "new drivers" who have just left Uber to join Grab, this discount goes up to nearly 29%. In order to survive a series of difficulties, the driver has no choice except working extra hours to compensate for the reduced income.
Clarification of market share after merger
Vu Vinh Phu, the former Chairman of the Hanoi Supermarket Association told Hanoitimes that on the merger between Uber and Grab, there are still mixed opinions; yet after the merger, the most noticeable issue is Uber driver group joining Grab are facing difficulties.
Also, compared to Uber before, Grab does not have as many promotions. The benefits for consumers are also reduced. He believes it is necessary to clarify whether Grab market share accounts for 30% of the market after the merger with Uber. "If occupation of 30% or more of the market share exists, then in accordance with the current law, control measures must be applied to Grab, including the service cost issue", Phu said.
Meanwhile, Nguyen Van Thanh, Chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, stated that determining the market share of Grab is what the authorities can surely do.
"Input for determination of Grab’s market share should be based on the number of vehicles involved in piloting the electronic contract. A joint effort between the Ministry of Transport in with the Ministry of Industry and Trade may help identify how many cars there are upon the merger of Uber and Grab," Thanh analyzed.
However, according to Thanh, the determination of market share after the merger should be carried out urgently. Because if it is delayed, it may lead to the situation that the merger of these two companies may have been completed before the results of the investigation on Grab’s market share became available, then in that case it would be very difficult to intervene.
