WITH the current delivery rate and oil price hike, delivery servicemen of Grab, a popular service app, need to work at least 15 hours to earn an income.
“Baba kaayo ang pamasahe, mahal ang gasolina, maintenance sa motor, unya modawat ra mi’g sinsilyo (Our earnings from the delivery rate is not enough to cover for the gasoline, maintenance of our motorcycle)… Maabot pa gyud me og tag-20 hours para maka-income gyud ka, naa kay mauli sa inyuhang balay (For some of us, we have to work as long as 20 hours to earn an income),” Ian Falcon, Grab delivery rider, said during an interview with SunStar Davao on September 5, 2022.
Falcon said they earn at least P40 through Grab. If they work for 10 hours, they get only P400. Of this amount, P300 will be spent for gasoline, leaving some riders only P100 of income.
“Mapugos ang driver mobyahe og extended hours (We don’t have a choice but to extend our working hours), mao ni’y makapatay sa amoa karun (this will exhaust us). Kami ang naghatag sa ilaha og serbisyo, nilambo sila unya unsay gisukli nila ani sa mga riders (We give them the service they need, they earn a lot and this is what we get from them)?” Falcon said.
Falcon said they earn P700 a day, excluding P300 for the gasoline, and food allowance for working at least 15 to 20 hours a day. He said before the oil price hike they are earning at least P1,500 to P2,000 for just eight to 10 hours only.
Falcon said the company decides how much they will earn from the delivery service.
“Dili man gud mi regulated na transport service parehas sa jeepney, taxi, so sila ga-decide pila ang ihatag sa amoa (We are not regulated unlike jeepneys or taxis, so they decide how much they will give to us). Naa pud irregularities nga mahitabo tungod ana (there are also irregularities with their current system),” Falcon said.
Fellow delivery rider, Henry Co said there are also instances they do not earn from the system double booking some orders for a rider.
“Let’s say naay nag-order dire sa Roxas, unya taga Roxas Extension unya naa pud sa Matina both nag-order sa usa ka branch dire sa Roxas (For exemplar, there are two orders at a single restaurant in Roxas Avenue. One will be delivered to Roxas Ext. while the other one to Matina). Ang first customer nimo, makuha to nimo, pero ang ikaduha dili to visible ang payment ni customer sa karun nga sistema so katong gibayad niya makuha to ni Grab (You will get paid for the first order but for the second, the delivery fee paid by the customer is not visible on our end. The delivery fee for the second order will not go to us but to grab),” Co said.
He said that they will not earn from the second order of the double booking system.
They also said that the tips they get from Grab are also subjected to a 0.02 percent deduction as it will be included in the total earnings of the riders in a day. Even their incentive scheme during peak hours, which they called “gems,” is subject to deductions.
Meanwhile, Falcon said Grab’s base delivery fee before was P45 to P49 and has an additional P10 for every kilometer but since July 5, 2021, they have changed the delivery rate, which affected the riders’ earnings. The riders have requested for an adjustment of fees from Grab but they claim that the company has not yet responded to their queries.
The group of riders are also calling on the City Council to pass an ordinance that would regulate the fees of delivery online services. KSD