Federico Acosta Rainis

Dec 10, 2024 | ijnet.org | Karol Ilagan |Federico Acosta Rainis

Users of Grab, the Philippines' most popular ride-hailing app, are at the mercy of an opaque algorithm that calculates service prices. When they book a ride, the amount to be paid for the distance traveled and the travel time is usually coupled with a surge fee that, according to the company, "reflects the real-time market conditions" and allows it to balance supply and demand between drivers and users.

Aug 6, 2024 | sunstar.com.ph | Karol Ilagan |Federico Acosta Rainis

By Karol Ilagan and Federico Acosta Rainis / Philippine Center for Investigative JournalismKey findings:* Transportation giant Grab offers a convenient alternative to navigating the country’s busy cities -- but at a premium. * Data collected by PCIJ showed that rides of the GrabCar service always included surge fees, the additional cost computed by an algorithm to get more cars on the road.

Jul 12, 2024 | rappler.com | Miriam Grace Go |Karol Ilagan |Federico Acosta Rainis

Manila-based journalist Karol Ilagan is a regular customer of GrabCar, the ride-hailing app. In one of her trips to work in 2023, she paid a surge fee that was more than a third of the entire fare. It wasn’t the first time, but because she took the ride late morning on a slow Tuesday, she thought she was overcharged. She sent feedback to Grab Support and was told there was high demand, hence the higher fare.

Jul 12, 2024 | rappler.com | Miriam Grace Go |Karol Ilagan |Federico Acosta Rainis

Transportation giant Grab offers a convenient alternative to navigating the country’s busy cities – but at a premium. Data collected by PCIJ showed that rides of the GrabCar service always included surge fees, the additional cost computed by an algorithm to get more cars on the road. However, the data also suggested that customers still often endure lengthy wait times even when fares were high.

Jul 11, 2024 | pcij.org | Karol Ilagan |Federico Acosta Rainis

Manila-based journalist Karol Ilagan is a regular customer of GrabCar, the ride-hailing app. In one of her trips to work in 2023, she paid a surge fee that was more than a third of the entire fare. It wasn’t the first time, but because she took the ride late morning on a slow Tuesday, she thought she was overcharged. She sent feedback to Grab Support and was told there was high demand, hence the higher fare.