SINGAPORE: A glitch on ride-hailing app Grab on Thursday (Oct 25) caused all rides to cost S$6 – regardless of destination.
The issue appeared to affect riders and drivers in Singapore as well as in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.
A Grab driver in Singapore who only wanted to be known as Marcus told Channel NewsAsia that the problem began at around 3.25pm.
“All trips to anywhere in Singapore is a flat S$6 for JustGrab booking. Many drivers calling Grab hotline and the line is flooded.
“I got a job and noticed this fare is unusually low, so I used Google Maps to check distance and to my shock, it’s 12km. So I … checked other locations, and found out about it,” he said.
The booking in question was a trip from 7 Siglap Road to Guoco Tower at 1 Wallich Street.
Screengrab of a 12km ride from Siglap to Guoco Tower which was priced at S$6 instead of the usual S$11 to S$12. (Image: Marcus)
Marcus added that he did not accept the job offer, which caused it to affect his acceptance rate.
“We have to maintain a certain acceptance rate to qualify for incentives. So I turned off my app and waited for Grab to solve the problem before going back online,” he added.
Channel NewsAsia tried to book a JustGrab ride from 1 Stars Avenue in One-North to Changi Airport and found that it cost only S$6. A Channel NewsAsia reporter also managed to successfully complete a trip from 1 Stars Avenue to Bukit Panjang for S$6.
Rides on Grab appeared to cost S$6 regardless of destination.
Another Grab driver who wanted to be known as David said he first realised there was a problem at about 3pm.
“I found it strange when the heat map was all over but the fare did not correspond. Some pings came in but the fare was ridiculous. I rejected and went offline.”
He said he did not contact customer service and decided to take a break instead as continuing to drive would be “a waste of time and petrol”.
“Knowing that the hotline will be jammed, it is pointless to call the customer service hotline,” he added.
He also expressed disappointment that Grab did not notify drivers of the glitch.
“What are we drivers suppose to do now? Wasting time and wait for the glitch to be fixed? Who’s gonna cover the rental, petrol and time loss?”
A screengrab of the glitch seen on Grab drivers’ apps.
Other Grab users took to social media to share their experiences.
Twitter user Fiza Aw said her trip from Tampines to Newton cost S$6 while Adilah said the S$6 fare also applied to trips from Republic Polytechnic to Pasir Ris.
Users in Indonesia and the Philippines also reported seeing lower fares on the app.
The flat fare also appeared to apply to international trips. At around 3.50pm, a trip from Pioneer Road in Singapore to Bangkok cost S$6.
A Grab ride from Singapore to New York was also available for S$6.
Rides on Grab appeared to cost S$6 regardless of destination. (Screengrab: Channel NewsAsia reader)
A Grab ride from Singapore to the United States appeared to cost S$6 on Thursday afternoon (Oct 25).
GrabHitch – the company’s carpooling initiative – also appeared to be affected, with users complaining in a Facebook group that all Hitch rides were now S$5, regardless of destination.
“Hitch ride now all $5 … who will pick?” posted Facebook user Tan Jerry.
“Is the Grab pricing having error? Cause most rides that cost 15 bucks become 5 bucks? What happen?” asked another Facebook user.
Grab Philippines said that the app was “experiencing downtime” which may affect ride bookings.
The issue appeared to be fixed at around 4.15pm, when the app began to reflect different fares for different destinations.
Channel NewsAsia has reached out to Grab for comment.
This story came from a reader tip-off. If you would like to send in photos or videos of something newsworthy, WhatsApp our Mediacorp news hotline at +65 8218 8281 or message us on Facebook.
