Lawyers group eyes suspension of Move It accreditation following Grab PH acquisition

A civic group is pushing for the suspension of the accreditation of Move It in the motorcycle taxi (MC Taxi) program’s pilot implementation after mobile app giant Grab acquired it.

Lawyers for Commuters Safety and Protection (LCSP) President Atty. Ariel Inton said that the company’s accreditation to participate in the study’s extended pilot implementation must be temporarily halted pending the result of the Congress investigation on the matter.

Both Grab and Move It posted a statement in their respective websites dated August 5, 2022, which informs the public that the former acquired the latter’s business operations.

“Backed by Grab and Move It’s shared commitment towards safe and reliable mobility services for everyday Filipino commuters, Grab Philippines will help Move It further scale its existing motorcycle taxi fleet and improve the efficiency of its platform to help serve more commuters, and create at least 6,000 meaningful income opportunities for more driver-partners within three months,” the statement noted.

Inton considers the acquisition a "backdoor entry for Grab" in the MC Taxi program.

“Move It should Move Out of the pilot test if it cannot comply with the policies set forth by the TWG. It should not be allowed to profit by using its accreditation as a consideration for a takeover,” Inton told Carmudi Philippines.

He also said that LCSP has coordinated with Vice Chairman of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development Joel Chua and are just waiting for the MC Taxi Technical Working Group TWG to convene" for the group to file a complaint against it.

Late last year, the MC Taxi TWG already barred the Grab-Move It Collaboration after receiving complaints that the “collaboration was not operating in accordance with the agreed parameters and guidelines.”

According to the TWG, the suspension was served based on the following violations: Grab’s application instead of Move It's application was used to avail, book, and pay for the ride service, and the entire process of training, driver onboarding, marketing, issuance of official receipts and the use of the Grab Driver app was all undertaken by Grab. 

Photos from Move It, Lawyers for Commuters Safety and Protection Facebook page

Also read:

MC Taxi Pilot Study to Continue, Now with Increased Rider Cap, Expanded Coverage

Lawmakers seek resumption of motorcycle ride hailing ops

TWG: MC Taxi Pilot run cap for 'Monitoring' Only