Many drivers in Vietnam borrowed millions of VND to buy cars to work for Uber and are still in debt.
Nguyen Duc Hiep, an Uber driver, said he was paying a monthly installment of VND8.5m (USD372) for a VND365m car. Hiep worked for Grab previously but his account was deleted after he violated a contract term. “I was earning about VND1m a day. But I don’t know what to do now since Grab does not reopen the deleted accounts,” he said.
He may have to find work at traditional taxi firms or sell the car and incur some VND100m (USD4,400) loss.
Driver Bui Quyet from Hanoi said he had received the notification from Uber on March 26. According to Quyet, those had borrowed money to buy cars are worried over the service fee rates. Uber took 20% from drivers while Grab will take 28.36%. Such rate will result in low profits, especially for short trips, and he will not have enough money to pay fuel, maintenance and bank interests.
Meanwhile, Grab taxi motorbike drivers worry about fierce competition among themselves due to the sudden increase of drivers. According to some drivers, the number of people borrowing money to work for Grab and Uber in the future will decrease and the number of part-time drivers will rise.
Nguyen Cong Hung, head of Hanoi Taxi Association, said Grab might monopolise the market after the acquisition.
On March 29, Deputy Minister of Transport Nguyen Ngoc Dong said Grab’s acquisition was legal. Talking about the drivers’ call for help, Dong said they were willing to work with drivers and answer their questions.
“When the drivers decide to invest in their cars, they didn’t research thoroughly enough. The government can’t decide for them whether they should buy the cars or not. The role of the authorities is to manage how the cars will run and the fares,” he said.
Uber Technologies sold the business in Southeast Asia for a 27.5% stake in Grab on March 26. Uber also closed all of their offices but hasn’t guided their partners on how to switch to the new app.