GrabHitch Shortens Service Hours, Just A Day After Grab’s $6.4M Fine

GrabHitch No Longer Available Between 1-5AM Starting 1 Oct

It’s 3am, you just ended your night out and are stranded in the middle of Clarke Quay.

You’re about to book a Grab, only to realise there’s a goddamn surcharge. Ordering that ride will probably have you eating only instant noodles for the rest of the week.

So you turn to GrabHitch for sweet refuge from sky-high fares.

Sorry to dash your dreams bro — but come October, late-night GrabHitch will be no more.

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GrabHitch ceases its service from 1-5am daily

With effect from 1 Oct, Grab will no longer be accepting GrabHitch bookings from 1-5am daily.

As part of Grab’s “continuous efforts to provide a safe and positive ride experience for travellers”, they have decided to stop its carpooling service during wee hours.

This comes a day after Grab and Uber got fined $13 million for violating competition laws.

Grab was also ordered to return to its pre-merger pricing algorithm.

Drivers faced negative experiences during those hours

Grab explained that this decision was made after receiving negative feedback from GrabHitch drivers about their experiences picking up commuters during those hours.

Many met with intense situations during those rides, such as drunk passengers vomiting in their cars or angsty passengers arguing with them.

JustGrab, GrabCar still available

With shortened service hours for GrabHitch, commuters will lose the only other cheaper option available on Grab during those hours.

As GrabShare has also ceased offering services from 1-5am on 14 Jun, citing similar reasons.

Both services allow commuters to defray their travelling costs by splitting fares with other passengers headed the same way.

The only difference is that GrabShare is driven by commercial drivers whereas GrabHitch is operated by private-car owners.

Other services which tend to tout higher fares – such as JustGrab and GrabCar – will still be available to commuters during this period.

How now, brown cow?

Frequent late-night carpoolers will definitely be feeling the pinch.

We can’t help but point out that it is a tad coincidental that commuters will have to pick the arguably more expensive option now for late-night rides, just a day after Grab was slapped with a hefty fine.

But fret not, commuters who are seeking affordable carpool alternatives at night can still turn to homegrown Rydepool.

Of course, only time will tell if it can become a credible threat to Grab’s lonely throne.

Featured image from Facebook.