After getting hammered left, right and centre by customers for devaluing GrabRewards and making the requirements much more difficult to accumulate points, Grab has made a U-turn.

On Friday, July 20, Grab in Singapore made it harder for customers to secure points that gave them discounts on rides.

Carried out without major announcements, Grab customers suddenly discovered they were earning fewer points per dollar spent, even as points awarded per dollar spent using e-payment GrabPay increased on a whole.

The GrabRewards policy for earning points applied across Grab's rides, e-payments and food delivery.

What changed?

Grab rewards are tiered. They start at Member, then progress to Silver, Gold and Platinum.

Higher tiered members earn points at a faster rate.

Before the change on Friday, Members earned eight points for every dollar spent on rides when they paid in cash, but after the change, it dropped to one point per dollar spent.

The change on July 20 saw Members using GrabPay for rides get rewards that dropped from 16 points per dollar spent to three points per dollar spent.

Restored until September

The restoration of the old system came on July 23 after Grab faced massive public backlash over four days.

Effective July 24 at 8am, until Sept. 30, GrabRewards members can claim ride reward points at the previous rates.

[related_story]

Customers who have purchased Grab ride rewards based on the new rates will have the difference in points refunded.

Every S$5 discount on rides is converted from 2,000 points, which went up to 2,200 points after the change.