Grab Vietnam’s heatwave surcharge for bike partners: Group CEO

Grab’s heatwave surcharge on its motorbike services in Vietnam is for its partnered drivers, Grab Holdings CEO Anthony Tan said Tuesday in Hanoi.

Tan provided the clarification in a meeting with Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai, in which the government leader urged the ride-hailing firm to pay more attention to interest sharing.

The CEO said all proceeds from the new surcharge were for the firm’s partnered drivers in the Vietnamese market to ensure them a better service.

The Vietnam Competition and Consumer Authority last week asked Grab Vietnam to clarify its charges and surcharges by July 18 as the firm applied “hot weather” surcharges starting July 6.

Deputy PM Khai told Tan that to improve Grab’s reputation, raise confidence among the public and partners, and run a long-term business in Vietnam, the Singapore-based company needed to share information in a timely and transparent way.

He also congratulated Grab for its business success, noting that Vietnam highly valued the group's cooperation with and support for the government during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, helping ensure goods circulation and access to necessities.

The Vietnamese government stands ready to remove obstacles to help the company in line with regulations, Khai said. "The country also welcomes and encourages Grab’s cooperation in digital transformation, digital economic development, and comprehensive finance," he added.

Tan said Grab was committed to long-term business in Vietnam with more investments for expansions though profit making was still ahead. "Grab will continue to support Vietnamese farmers in promoting sales of farm produce and foods in the domestic and other markets."

On the same day, South Korea's leading molecular diagnostics company Seegene Inc. said it will work with test center LabHouse to launch its “In-life PCR” campaign in Vietnam for Grab drivers, starting this August.

The campaign is a global initiative that seeks to encourage regular testing for respiratory viruses, including Covid-19, flu, and colds, to stay protected from infectious diseases, Seegene said.

Seegene will provide its Allplex-branded SARS-CoV-2/FluA/FluB/RSV assay, which can simultaneously detect Covid-19, flu A and B, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) to LabHouse, according to the Korean firm.

Grab Vietnam saw a loss of VND300.5 billion ($12.82 million) last year after recording a $10.36 million profit in 2020. It reported an accumulated loss of $186 million by the end of last year.