Grab Thailand has scrapped an app usage fee it started imposing last Tuesday on parcel delivery service (GrabExpress) and on-demand purchases and delivery service (GrabAssistant) after criticism online.
The fees for GrabExpress (Car) and GrabExpress (Pickup) were set at 5 baht per order and those for GrabExpress (Bike) and GrabAssistant at 3 baht per order.
The move drew ire online as the fee collection took place during the coronavirus outbreak, when demand for delivery services via apps is on the rise.
Grab Thailand issued a statement on Friday saying it was cancelling the fee collection.
The revocation took effect that day.
Grab said it would give a 40-baht discount code to consumers who used those services from March 31 to April 2. The code expires at the end of this month.
The app usage fee has never been applied to GrabFood, a food delivery service, the company said.
According to Grab, the collection of the app usage fee was meant to protect and take care of driver partners because their numbers are swelling, as well as to improve technology.
Some 29,000 drivers were recruited from February to March and another 35,000 are expected to join by this month.
In early March, GrabFood added an additional 20 baht charge for orders under 70 baht, saying the move should encourage consumers to order more in each order, which would increase revenue for merchant partners.
The fee has been kept unchanged.
But on April 1, Grab decided to reduce the commission fee collected from food merchants from 35% to 30% as part of measures to alleviate hardship during the coronavirus outbreak.
A legal source who requested anonymity at the Office of Trade Competition Commission (OTCC) told the Bangkok Post that the agency is gathering information about how food ordering apps are doing.
Evidence will be collected and witnesses sought to determine whether the apps are violating the Trade Competition Act, the source said.
Similar laws in other developed countries, such as Australia and Japan, serve as useful tools to tackle violations, the source said.
Somsak Kiatchailak, secretary-general of the OTCC, said last week that his agency was inspecting the trade behaviour of online delivery providers and other trade practices that may violate the law.