'Is this even legal?' Passenger calls out Grab driver for allowing 2 passengers to share front seat

A passenger was put in a tight spot (quite literally), after her GrabShare ride involved sharing a five-seater car with a family of four.

Taking to Complaint Singapore Facebook page on Wednesday (Feb 21), the Grab passenger, who only wants to be known as Tay, wrote: "Booked my first GrabShare ride today and got to share a five-seater grab car with four other passengers and the driver and myself. Total six pax?"

With two of the family members seated with her in the back seat, Tay mentioned that the other two sat at the front. 

Tay posted an image showing a young boy sitting on the lap of an adult in the front seat. 

"Is this even legal?" Tay asked, shocked that the Grab driver asked the family to do so.

'Do I have a choice?'

Tay told AsiaOne that she didn't know what to expect since this was her first time booking a GrabShare ride.

Hence, she was taken aback when the driver accepted the family of four for a GrabShare ride.

According to Tay, her GrabShare ride fare from CBD to Woodlands was $28. 

As she was picked up before the family, Tay felt blindsided: "The four passengers got on after me, do I even have a choice to leave the car?"

Drive should have rejected booking: Tay

She added that the driver could have rejected the booking instead of accepting the family of four.

According to Grab's website, a maximum of two passengers per booking is allowed in GrabShare ride.

"GrabShare promised one other passenger, not a whole family of four," said Tay. 

Not wanting to confront both the driver and family during the ride, Tay told AsiaOne that she alerted Grab via its help centre on the app instead. 

Tay said that Grab has yet to respond to her complaint. 

Disappointed with her first GrabShare ride experience, Tay told AsiaOne: "First and last."

Netizens flooded the comments section of Tay's post, in agreement on the matter that the Grab driver had put the front passengers' lives in jeopardy.

However, some felt that Tay's post affects the livelihood of the driver. One Facebook user commented: "Don't ruin his rice bowl".

Tay responded in the comments that she has made a report to Grab regarding the incident.

Grab apologises

In response to AsiaOne's queries, Grab said that they are sorry for the unpleasant encounter the passenger had with GrabShare.

"We would like to remind passengers and driver-partners that only one passenger is allowed per GrabShare booking," a Grab spokesperson told AsiaOne. 

And so, there should only be a maximum of two passengers in a matched GrabShare ride, said the company.

"In this particular incident, the family of four should not have booked a GrabShare ride. Driver-partners can cancel bookings without penalty in the event that passengers choose the wrong service type," said the Grab spokesperson.

According to the Road Traffic Act, front seatbelts must always be worn by the driver and front passenger. 

It is also illegal for anyone under 1.35m, regardless of age, to be unsecured in a vehicle. 

First-time offenders can be jailed for up to three months, fined up to $1,000, or both.

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ashwini.balan@asiaone.com