It could not be denied that Grab and Uber are heaven-sent to commuters who have had a lot of trouble and bad experiences with taxi drivers and other forms of public transportation.
But drivers of these ride-hailing apps have their fair share of problems involving passengers, with some receiving rather strange and dubious requests from their would-be passengers.
Recently, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has warned drivers against receiving dubious packages and other uncertain requests from the riding public as they could unwittingly become drug couriers, something that is punishable by law. If they are caught transporting illegal drugs, they can go to jail for the rest of their life, even if they had no idea about the contents of the items they were asked to deliver.
Photo credit: The Star
Such is certainly a dilemma for these drivers as refusing a booking could mean they would receive bad ratings – and we all know what could happen to someone with a lot of bad ratings. Sad.
During the meeting held by the PDEA, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and transport network companies, it was revealed that drugs aren’t the only problem drivers could potentially face.
Screenshot of a booking was shared in the meeting, with the driver being asked to take the passenger from the Mission Hospital in Cainta, Metro Manila to Batangas Port located 110 km away!
The one who booked the ride was willing to pay a fixed fare of Php2,840 but aside from the problem of Batangas being quite far from Metro Manila, the booking came with a message that the ‘passenger’ will actually by a dead body!
Another driver also experienced a similar thing…
The drivers complained that it was difficult to refuse such bookings because they will surely receive bad ratings but who would agree to this kind of trip, anyway? This is really crazy.