drivers

Uber vs Grab: A Complete Guide for Drivers Part 2

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Read time: 6 min.
Table of Contents

We are back with the second part of the guide for drivers, navigation links for other parts are listed below.

Our Complete Guide for Grab vs. Uber Drivers:

Part 1 – About whether to drive for Uber or Grab

Part 2 – About signing up (You are reading this now) 

Part 3 – About types of riders

Other Grab/Uber Reads:

What Grab and Uber don’t tell you – Digging Deeper

A Short Message from Drivers to their Riders

This is a non-sponsored article; we are doing this out of passion. Do help motivate us by sharing and giving our page HERE a like!

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored article. There is no recommendation for either company; we are providing this guide purely for readers to make their individual decisions. Bookmark this page for future reference.


Commission

Uber commissions are 20%. 28% for UberXL, for shared rides Uberpool, they take 10% if there are no matches for the 1st rider, and 30% off the fares if matched. Commissions are automatically deducted from the total fare. The application automatically deducts the commission and displays your earnings.

Grab commissions are 20% too. Grabshare has been consistently awarding incentives such as waiving the commission for rides with no matches, or an additional refund of the commission. Commissions are deducted from the credit account, where drivers have to top up whenever it has little value. The amount of money in the credit account cannot be withdrawn.

Related: 6 Ways To Find Freelance Jobs In Singapore

Uber Vs Grab

Ratings

There are three ratings for both companies. Acceptance Rating(AR), Cancellation Rating(CR) and Driver’s Rating.

Uber requires drivers to get at least 85% in AR; it does not take CR into consideration for incentives. *We know why drivers still cancel though, but it would be politically wrong to state in our article. Drivers, we understand*

Recently, Grab requires drivers to get at least 90% AR for incentives; it also has a criterion of 10% for CR. Grab drivers cannot have more than 10% CR, or they would not get the incentives. Too high a CR may result in suspension.

Debit Card

Cancellation Charges

Uber drivers can cancel the booking for a no-show on the 6th minute after arriving at the pickup location. Use the banner ‘rider notified’ as a gauge to start your timer. There is a cancellation charge of $6 to the passengers; drivers will get $4.80 after commission. Drivers will get this as well if the rider cancels while they are 5 minutes en-route to pick up the rider.

Charges apply for passengers who brought too many friends or have a child below 1.35m. Drivers will also get the cancellation fee. In these cases, drivers will have to use the help menu to apply for the charge to be credited. Cancellation fees are shown in trip history.

There is a $2 compensation into Grab drivers’ credit account when the rider cancels while they are on the way, which means he can earn up to $10 ride for free (since the commission is 20%). It also applies for a no-show, Drivers will have to record it somewhere to ensure each cancellation fees are accurately credited when they receive their Driver statement.

If Grab Drivers face riders who brought too many friends, or with a kid below 1.35m, it will affect their cancellation rating. They do not get compensated for cases like this.

Related: Beware. Consider Removing your Credit Card Details from these Platforms

Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/surveying/23881991681

ERP and Extra Charges

Uber includes ERP charges into their upfront fares. When a rider makes a booking, the price reflected includes the ERP charge. Uber however frequently miss out 1 or 2 gantries. Drivers would have to remember and check each trip to ensure they are correctly compensated.

There are no waiting charges. Drivers get paid when they cancel the booking in the 6th minute for a no-show.

Since the upfront fares already include ERP, especially during peak hours, there is technically less reason to fret about which route to take.

Grab does not include ERP charges into their fares. Drivers have to remember the costs and key it on a page when they click drop off. There is a $5 waiting charge for every 5 minutes.

Since fares do not include ERP charges, drivers frequently face riders who demand to go with their desired route; some may take much longer or further. Some riders complain after you’ve passed a gantry. Most of them are unaware that it is the Driver’s right to choose the route since the fare is fixed. *Distance is the amount of petrol you burn, time is money too*

Riders have to pay $3 extra for every 5 minutes wait before the pickup. Practically, drivers can only hope the passengers are understanding enough of their mistake and pay accordingly. According to our research, usually, the opposite happens. It is common for riders to decide to cancel the ride if they had not boarded yet. Others would whine the whole way, give poor ratings, slam the door in anger *the list goes on*

*While we know it’s easier if riders are paying by grabpay, we do not condone any unethical acts*

Related: The Most Heartwarming Act of Kindness Video in Pay it Forward Day 2017

Consumer & Users

Partners Support

The help menu on Uber can be accessed from the application, the help menu for drivers is enough detailed where they can request for trip reviews, report an unruly rider, ask for ERP adjustments and even claim for cleaning up of a rider’s vomit. Sounds pretty convenient for a simple request. However, your requests are sent to an overseas team of call centre employees, all replies you get are very generic responses. So for more complicated occurrences, such as the rider having to go to 5 different places and the fare still reflects by the upfront fare while the trip took 1hr and 10 minutes, all the best explaining with the generic replies.

Grab drivers have to call the 24-hour hotline for assistance. *think of the telcos like Starhub and SingTel*. Waiting times are long. At least it is easier for them to understand your situation. Older generation drivers who prefer talking than typing a long essay will love this.

Banana Money

Earnings

Uber reflects your earnings after their commission. It includes the ERP charges compensated as well. Drivers can see the number of hours they had been online and the distance they had travelled. Trip history in a list would display the earnings of the driver.

Do note that they might make fare adjustments upon request by riders; there is no notification for any changes made. Just something that drivers need to take note.

Grab reflects the history of your rides. Although it shows how much revenue drivers are earning from their incentives, Grab does not calculate your earnings. Trip history in a list would only show the fare; drivers would have to deduct the commission to calculate themselves.

Related: Consider this Before Switching your Telco to Circles.Life


Our next part is what you’ve been waiting for, the patterns of various riders, the common places to hide out or head to at certain timings, about LTA ruling, which application is better for peak hour and so on. Following us HERE would give you most updated information about our posts. Sharing this article will help motivate us to make more materials to help more people!

Our Complete Guide for Grab vs. Uber Drivers:

Part 1 – About whether to drive for Uber or Grab

Part 2 – About signing up (You are reading this now) 

Part 3 – About types of riders

Other Grab/Uber Reads:

What Grab and Uber don’t tell you – Digging Deeper

A Short Message from Drivers to their Riders