Consumers are assured of secured rides as the company continues investments to enhance ridesharing safety, insurance and infrastructure.

Manila, 25 May 2015 – GrabCar, a private car booking system accessed through Southeast Asia’s leading transport mobile app GrabTaxi, recently invested four million US dollars to ensure passenger safety.

“We must continue to ensure that our safety standards are not compromised. This is why we’ve hired Yiling Kok as our Regional Head of Safety, and will continue to set aside funds and resources for safety and security. Yiling spent 11 years in the Singapore Navy where she was involved in managing operational risk and safety procedures on ships,” said GrabTaxi Group CEO, Anthony Tan.

Safety is paramount to the company. Users will be reassured to know that GrabCar adheres to the same strict safety standards of GrabTaxi, with the focus on its three pillars of safety, convenience and speed.

“As the Regional Safety Lead in charge of operational controls, I aim to maintain our excellent safety record and have been given the mandate to leverage on our multi-million dollar R&D facility to build and develop the best safety features for our riders,” said Kok.

Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) recently announced a new classification for ridesharing services like GrabCar. GrabCar is now moving towards full DOTC accreditation as a Transportation Network Companies (TNC), a platform to connect passengers to drivers with private cars.

“This is an opportunity for Grab to be once more the leader in the transport-booking industry. We’ve always been in the forefront of innovation while working closely with regulators. Since GrabTaxi started in the Philippines in 2013, we have revolutionized the transportation landscape for both drivers and passengers. We are focused on doing the same thing with GrabCar, and we are celebrating the PH government’s support for us,” said Tan.

Since its Philippine launch in 2013, the company has established a reputation for cooperating with concerned government agencies such as the Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to advance progressive transport regulations.

“GrabTaxi has been working with the LTFRB since day one of its operations and has been collaborative with us on the drafts on the policy on the Transportation Network Companies (TNCs),” said LTFRB Executive director Atty. Roberto Cabrera.

“We are extremely strict in our driver vetting process. We ensure that all private drivers have been cleared by the NBI, have undergone a rigorous driver training, and have secured a professional driver’s license. We also ensure that we meet all our drivers and Peers in person to conduct training and evaluation,” said Kok.

In a region that is plagued with safety, traffic, and transportation issues, GrabTaxi offers an appealing solution to commuter woes. Since its founding in 2012, over 83,000 taxi drivers have been using the GrabTaxi app to receive bookings in Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia. There has been over 4.4 million downloads of the app around the region. For the Philippines, GrabTaxi is available in Manila, Cebu, Davao, and Iloilo.

About GrabTaxi

GrabTaxi’s mission is to revolutionize the transportation industry in Southeast Asia. Runner-up in the 2011 Harvard Business School Business Plan Contest, its core product is an on-demand dispatch service with GPS-enhancements, allowing passengers to hail the nearest available taxi, car or motorbike with extreme ease. Since its founding in 2012, tens of thousands of drivers have been using the GrabTaxi smartphone-based technologies to receive bookings in Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore. With over 4.4 million downloads of the GrabTaxi mobile app around the region and 7 bookings per second, GrabTaxi has become the market leader in Southeast Asia. Passengers can download the app to book rides on their smartphones and tablets (iOS: http://bit.ly/grabtaxi-iOS, Android: http://bit.ly/grabtaxi-Android and Blackberry: http://bit.ly/grabtaxi-blackberry. For more information, please visit: http://www.grabtaxi.com