Has Grab failed it’s users? Without a shadow of a doubt.

You know, it may sound crazy to liken a company like Grab to Huawei, but with the year both the companies are having, there are some uncanny similarities.

First would be that both were on track to have stellar years in 2019. Next, there’s the fact that both have since had their businesses come under intense scrutiny over the past couple months or so. And then of course, there’s the fact that both are having it’s coffins nailed by the same entity: governments (Though of course, Grab would never come out and say this).

With two days to go before e-hailing regulations come into play, Grab are in a bit of a pickle. The reality of their situation is that in spite of the fact that the government has extended the PSV licence deadline by 3 months, less than half (41%) of their original fleet numbers have successfully obtained their licences.

Of course, this is an increase from the 10% that had completed it by the original deadline but still, this is it. As literally every character in the Avengers would say, we’re in the end game now. There will be no more extensions after this. That leaves Grab with a fleet of just 61,500 drivers. On average, the platform serves about 1 million ride bookings daily. You see the problem here?

It looks like there will be no avoiding longer wait times and higher fares. While a further 24% of Grab’s fleet are currently in the process of acquiring their PSV licence, that only amounts to 36,000 drivers who probably won’t be eligible to drive for Grab for at least another couple of weeks. It’s just hard to have a positive outlook when the fact of the matter is, 33,000 Grab drivers have left the platform for good.

The new normal

While previously, there was an average wait time of 6 minutes to get a ride, there is no doubt that this will change come the 12th of October, and Grab acknowledges as much. The company has come out and advised riders to book their rides earlier and to ride during non-peak hours.

It’s a sad reality but it is what it is. I know people who have sold their cars because they’ve come to find that Grab is a lot more convenient for them, which if anything, reflects well on Grab. While the company had a mountain to climb and responded with great initiatives to get their drivers PSV ready, at the end of the day, it’s a results game and it just wasn’t enough.

Their hold on the e-hailing gig has become almost monopolistic since their acquisition of Uber, we as end users have every right to expect better service. All the initiatives and promotions Grab has come up with in recent months are great, but we expect no less. It’s no achievement for a company to serve it’s purpose. It’s an achievement when it manages to go beyond the expectations of it’s users, and in that sense, Grab has certainly failed.