Jakarta, March 5, 2026, 20:20 (WIB)
- Grab plans to allocate Rp100 billion to Rp110 billion toward its Bonus Hari Raya payouts for drivers in Indonesia, following a recent regulation.
- Eligible app-based drivers and couriers will now see their minimum cash bonus bumped up to 25% of average net income.
- Starting March 9, Grab Malaysia plans to introduce a 1.25% monthly interest rate on new PayLater instalment purchases.
Grab Holdings Limited is upping its holiday cash bonus pool for Indonesian drivers and couriers, now set between 100 billion and 110 billion rupiah. The move follows a new labour ministry circular that raised the minimum payout for eligible partners just before Idul Fitri.
The Ministry of Manpower’s new circular—letter No. M/4/HK.04.00/III/2026—raises the mandated Bonus Hari Raya (BHR) for partners to at least 25% of their average net income over the previous 12 months, up from 20% a year ago, and makes cash payment mandatory at least a week before the holiday, according to Katadata. Grab, GoTo’s Gojek, Maxim, and inDrive together are now on the hook for a combined BHR payout of around 220 billion rupiah to roughly 850,000 online motorbike and taxi drivers, the report said.
The rule hits during Ramadan—a period of heavier spending—just as officials rely on the platforms to speed up payments to drivers. It’s a sharper divide now between “partner” contractors and workers across Indonesia’s sprawling gig sector.
Grab and competing platforms lean on incentives to retain drivers and hold their ground in both ride-hailing and delivery. But if the required bonus goes up, they may have to dial back on promos—or swallow thinner margins—especially if demand drops off post-holiday surge.
Grab shares traded in the U.S. hovered near $4.10 ahead of the market open, showing little movement.
Grab Indonesia CEO Neneng Goenadi says the BHR program was built around partner productivity over the last year, aiming to make a real impact during the holiday season, according to a company statement cited by Republika. Grab’s structure offers motorbike partners payouts ranging from 150,000 rupiah up to 850,000 rupiah, while car partners can see between 200,000 rupiah and 1.6 million rupiah. There’s also a pool of 105 Umrah pilgrimage packages earmarked for top drivers, the report adds. GoTo, for its part, allocated 110 billion rupiah for Gojek drivers and emphasized the bonus goes beyond just financial assistance. Both companies noted that BHR stands apart from THR, the official employee holiday bonus.
Grab’s Malaysia arm is moving to a flat 1.25% monthly interest rate on new PayLater instalment plans, dropping the previous 1% promo as of March 9. Current instalments? No change, they’ll stick to their original terms. That 1.25% will hold through May 31, and any tweaks after that will show up in the app, according to Grab Malaysia.
Singapore-based Grab operates a “superapp” that covers deliveries, ride-hailing and digital finance across Southeast Asia, with services active in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Reuters
The new formula leaves room for bigger payouts if driver earnings pick up—or if regulators decide to expand who qualifies, not just the highest-frequency partners. For Grab, though, higher incentive bills over time could strain efforts to keep prices flat in a crowded field and still hang on to drivers tempted by competitors.
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