RIDE-SHARING firm Grab is proposing a 10-to-13-peso increase in its fares because of the higher excise taxes on petroleum products under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion law.
The company will file a petition for the fare increase before the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board within this week, according to Grab Philippines country head Brian Cu.
“The fare increase aims to cover the higher operating costs of our drivers due to the implementation of the TRAIN policy,” Cu said.
He made his statement even as Malacañang on Thursday urged the public to gloss over the impact of what it described as “minimal” and “temporary” increases on the price of basic commodities as a result of TRAIN.
Palace Spokesman Harry Roque said the prices of basic commodities would increase because of the new tax reform package, but vehemently denied it would affect the poor.
“While adjusting excise taxes would raise the prices of some commodities, we assure everyone that it will be minimal and it will be temporary,” Roque said.
A full-time Grab driver earns P3,200 to P3,600 daily, and of that amount, P800 to P1,000 is spent on gas.
“Our biggest worry is the day-to-day operations with regard to the fuel that the drivers need,” Cua said.
“If a fare adjustment is not made, this will [compromise] their income on a monthly basis.”
Once the fare adjustments are granted by the LTFRB, Grab assured its riders that those would be implemented only once there were “significant changes” in oil prices.
The average fares of Grab passengers were pegged at P150 to P170 as of December 2017.
Under the TRAIN law, an initial excise tax of P2.50 per liter will be imposed on diesel this year, which eventually will increase to P6 by 2020. An excise tax of P7 will also be imposed on gasoline in 2018, which gradually will increase to P10 in 2020.
The Department of Energy has advised oil companies not to apply the new excise taxes on old stocks of petroleum products as those are levied on importation and not at the point of sale to consumers. with John Paolo Bencito