A passenger claimed he was taken for a ride in more ways than one when his 20-minute Grab ride ended up lasting for an hour and 20 minutes.

Similarly, the estimated price in the app — around S$20 to S$30 — ended up ballooning to a metered fare of almost S$50.

Long road with traffic jam

The 31-year-old Singaporean, who wanted to be known only as David, told Mothership that he had booked the ride from his office in Kallang to Simei.

His colleagues, who departed the office at the same time at around 9:15pm, reached their homes in the same area in 20 minutes.

David, on the other hand, reached his destination only at around 10:40pm.

"The driver purposely took the long road with as much [traffic] jam as possible," he said of the Trans-Cab taxi driver.

"There were many other alternatives, but I saw him keep going on the longer route, even though he has the [GPS] map app."

He also alleged that the driver was "just trying to drag the time out".

Changed fare

Upon being presented with his unusually large bill, David then argued with the driver, saying that he could not justify paying such a high amount as he would be claiming the fare from his company.

A screenshot seen by Mothership shows that David's ride was booked through the app's GrabBusiness feature, with the payment method selected being cash.

He then told the driver that he would only pay the highest end of Grab's estimated fare — S$30.70 — and paid the amount via PayNow.

However, the driver ended up changing the metered fare on the app to reflect the minimum amount, S$0.01.

Together with the platform fee, the final charge displayed was S$0.71.

"Platform fee cost more than the metered [fare]," David quipped.

David alleged that the taxi driver had done so to prevent him from claiming the fare from his company, as the receipt would reflect the revised amount, despite him having paid a much higher fare.

The driver also knew that he would be making a claim, as David had previously told him so.

He added that he felt the move was done "out of spite".

Grab's reply

In response to Mothership's queries, a Grab spokesperson said that the company is investigating the incident.

The spokesperson added that driver-partners are required to input the correct passenger fare into the app, violations of which can lead to suspension.

According to Grab's regulations, driver-partners are required to take the fastest or shortest route recommended by the GPS for fixed-fare rides.

For taxi metered rides, driver-partners should discuss the preferred route with passengers beforehand and are advised to take the fastest or shortest GPS-recommended route as well.

The spokesperson added:

"We are currently investigating this incident and will take the appropriate action if the driver-partner is found to have violated our code of conduct."

Mothership has also reached out to Trans-Cab for comment.

Top image from Trans-Cab's website and David