Grab and Uber rev up competition in Singapore
By Nicholas Yong and Hannah Teoh
Four years after ride-hailing apps first came to Singapore, Grab and Uber held separate media events on Tuesday (6 June) to mark milestones for both companies.
Marking the fifth anniversary of its founding at an event at JW Marriott, Grab announced a new platform called GrabNow, which enables riders to hail a Grab vehicle on the street. To be available first in Jakarta, passengers can flag down a GrabBike driver, book a ride with the same rider immediately and pay via the Grab app.
Grab co-founder Tan Hooi Ling, 34, told Yahoo Singapore that the company hopes to roll out GrabNow in all seven countries that it operates in, including Singapore. It is currently in discussion with the respective authorities of each country.
Grab currently has more than 930,000 drivers across 55 cities and provides up to 2.5 million rides daily. It has been prolific in launching new platforms in Singapore in recent months. It started shuttle service GrabShuttle in March, and rolled out carpooling service GrabShare last December.
The fifth anniversary comes as both Grab and Uber prepare their drivers to qualify for the Private Hire Car Driver Vocational License (PDVL) by the beginning of next month, as all private hire car drivers will require a PDVL by 1 July. Both companies announced schemes in March to assist their drivers in doing so.
Tan said that Grab is “well prepared” for the transition. Asked how the company plans to address the potential shortfall in drivers, given that not all of them will choose to qualify for a PDVL, she said, “That’s exactly why we’re investing heavily into shared mobility – GrabShare, GrabHitch, GrabShuttle, GrabCoach. It’s just different ways of using the same supply more smartly.”
The company would not comment on how many of its drivers are planning to obtain a PDVL. There are also plans to invest in a multi-modal platform, said Tan, which combines car rides with other forms of public transport like the MRT.
Fierce competition from Uber
Over at Uber Singapore, spokesman Leigh Wong said that as of June, more than 90 per cent of its drivers had signed up for the FastLane Programme, which fully subsidises the cost of drivers obtaining their PDVLs.
At an event at the UberHub at Paya Lebar, Uber said that it has made tweaks to their driver app to enable drivers to optimise time spent on the road so that their earnings are worthwhile. For example, a feature called “intelligent dispatch”, alerts drivers to nearby requests when they are completing the current ride. This lowers the wait time for riders, and helps drivers find more trips nearby.
Wong, head of Uber’s communications for Singapore and Malaysia, said that Uber is focused on making sure that the app delivers “the best experience” for both drivers and riders. “We’re less distracted maybe by launching multiple kinds of products that people may or may not have traction with,” he said.
Wong added, “We are very, very laser focused on riders and drivers and making sure that whatever it takes for us to make sure they have an efficient experience, a joyful experience, and a safe experience.”
