PHV DRIVERS COMPLAIN LOW PAY & LONG HRS, CUSTOMERS COMPLAIN PRICE TOO HIGH – SO HOW

Who benefits from PHV?

1. Company unhappy making losses.
2. Drivers unhappy being underpaid, long hours and no benefits, it’s a tough job.
3. Customers unhappy paying exorbitant prices or can’t get a driver.
4. Elderly customers unhappy because can’t flag down by the street anymore.

What’s really the point? Might as well go back to taxi model at least I can buy CDG shares and watch share price soar.

Netizens’ comments

1. company won’t always be making losses
   drivers are underpaid, but will still work as it is better than nothing or some are treating it as side hustle.
   customers unhappy with the prices but will still pay them when rushing for time or if it saves time or hassle, bringing them 1 point to another.
   some drivers do both taxi and grab/gojek etc, likewise passengers have the option of choosing the best among taxis, grab, gojek etc
2. Unhappy customers doesn’t mean there’s no demand,
   Same as everyone is complaining restaurants are expensive yet DTF long queue.
3. People who are willing and able to pay the higher prices for the convince of ride hailing and rental cars.
   Just remb the market is always working. If customers are really that unhappy then they will stop using them then the price will come down.
   If drivers unhappy they will stop driving then the firms have to give more incentives . The bizs have them excatly where they want this both groups. Extracting maximum value yet not leaving the system
4. At the end of the day, more people are willing to pay for a $20 phv ride than to pay for COE+car+petrol+insurance+drive. So who benefits? Anyone who is booking a grab right now
5. I suspect most people here are not old enough to remember pre-PHV days, where the only viable way of calling for a taxi was to hail on the street, queue at the taxi stand only for the taxi driver to reject your business because it’s “not on the way” or simply because there is a more profitable route the driver would prefer to take.
   Even today, look at comfort app vs grab – which app has a better UI and less laggy etc.
   Not to mention, because of PHV, there is now options of hitch and shared-rides, which opens up more options. Objectively speaking, PHV improves the quality of mode of transport.
   In an ideal world, prices should be cheaper but look at the factors – fuel is going up, inflation (and hence the driver’s salary) is still high, car maintenance is up, insurance is up, rental of the car if they are leasing is up due to rising COE. Not to mention, tech companies are facing pressure to burning cash and reach profitability so naturally the subsidies are cut.
   It is a free market – if PHV can’t innovate they will naturally lose to Taxi. Think about it – if Taxi can come up with a better app to improve user experience and be cheaper, PHV wouldn’t even survive till now.
   As for company unhappy making losses, that’s untrue. If anything, they are adapting and pivoting towards profitability. Look at the recent layoffs by Grab.