Top News

Xuan Hung, 28, has worked as a ride-hailing driver in Hanoi since 2020. Since switching to a car in late 2024, he has been working 14-15 hours a day to earn around VND30 million (about $1,150) a month.

When he began driving, he could earn tens of millions of dong a month while working only part time. Grab currently pays drivers only VND4,000-5,000 per kilometer for car trips and VND2,500 for motorbike trips, compared with VND6,000-7,000 on rival platforms, Hung said. “Fares are so low that I have to turn off the Grab app and drive for other companies instead.”

Many of his colleagues are also dissatisfied because total deductions could reach 30-50% depending on when they drove, and drivers have to cover fuel and vehicle wear and tear themselves, he added.

Duc Anh, 35, of Hoang Liet Ward in Hanoi, said he had completed a 10-kilometer trip two days earlier for which the app displayed a fare of VND50,000. After commission and other fees, he received just over VND30,000. “After I cover operating expenses, what I take home is not enough to meet my living costs.”

On an online forum for ride-hailing drivers with more than 312,000 members, many Grab drivers said they earned less than VND150,000 after five hours on the road. Some reported taking home just VND11,000-12,000 for trips of four to five kilometers.

A car driver in Ho Chi Minh City said he received only VND26,000 for a four-kilometer trip. Another in Hai Phong said he received VND157,000 for a trip that cost the passenger VND262,000, with the difference going toward fees and taxes.

These individual trips were not representative of all activity on the platform, a Read review found.

Nevertheless, such anecdotes have triggered calls from drivers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to collectively “turn off the app” on Sept. 12-13 to pressure the company into reconsidering its revenue-sharing rates.

Grab respectively charges motorbike and car drivers 20% and 25% commissions. A driver’s payout is calculated by also subtracting taxes and platform fees. Operations remain normal, a Grab spokesperson told Read on the evening of Sept. 10.

The company is aware of discussions among drivers on social media and is carefully assessing the situation, but it has always prioritized drivers’ livelihoods and service quality, the person added.

Changes to commission rates and bonus policies have caused Grab drivers to collectively log off on several previous occasions.

In 2017, the company raised its app-use fee from 5% to 20% in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, saying the change was intended to standardize its policies and improve competitiveness.

Many drivers responded by logging off simultaneously and driving through city streets in protest. In January 2018, drivers staged large protests in northern and southern Vietnam after the company raised its commission rate for car and motorbike services from 20% to 23.6%. It subsequently restored the 20% rate.

In mid-2019, numerous GrabBike drivers gathered at the company’s Ho Chi Minh City office to protest higher fees resulting from taxes collected on their behalf.

It stopped withholding personal income tax for its drivers soon afterward. In December 2020, hundreds of drivers gathered in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to protest tax deductions and an increase in service fees from 20% to more than 27.2%.

To ease tensions but offset the additional costs, Grab raised fares. In 2023 and 2024, complaints surfaced periodically in major cities, with drivers saying the trip-assignment algorithm had changed, bonus policies were inconsistent, and account suspensions lacked transparency.

Drivers for Grab and several rival platforms periodically stopped accepting trips.

Ride-hailing drivers’ incomes have recently declined because platforms have lowered fares to attract and retain customers while leaving commission rates unchanged, Le Tan Luu, chairman of the Binh Tan App-Based Motorbike Taxi Drivers Union in Ho Chi Minh City, said.

Actual earnings also depend on bonuses, he explained. Drivers who meet trip targets within specified periods could offset lower fares with bonuses, while those who work part time are less able to do so, he said.

But he suggested drivers should not act in haste. “Drivers should avoid spontaneous gatherings that could disrupt traffic, public order, or security. They should also avoid hastily turning off the app.”

He urged drivers to instead compile data on trips they considered underpriced and appoint representatives to meet directly with Grab and regulators to resolve the issue.

Despite the calls for the stoppage, some drivers remained on the road. Duc Minh, 45, of Hanoi, said he is still picking up passengers but accepts only trips offering better fares. “If I turn off the app now, my family will lose income.”