Angkas shifts gears as Grab vies for PH motorcycle taxi crown

“Bookings have been slow,” laments RM, a motorcycle taxi driver, “ever since Move It came into the picture.”

RM, who declined to share his full name, says he used to earn as much as US$35 through motorcycle taxi app Angkas by plying the roads of Metro Manila for just six hours a day. Now, the 30-year-old’s daily earnings range from US$20 to US$25, even when he spends more time on the road.

Move It was acquired by Grab in 2022. It was relaunched the following year with an aggressive advertising campaign.

Founded in 2016 and the first of its kind in the Philippines, Angkas has been shut down thrice: twice for regulatory reasons and once due to the pandemic.

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Now, it faces two new competitors – Move It and JoyRide, another local platform – along with regulatory uncertainty. Can Angkas fend off a player with a bigger warchest and wider ecosystem?

An incentives game

Move It crashed the party at an opportune time. By 2023, Filipinos had become used to taking motorcycle taxis, which was not the case when Angkas first launched.

Back then, motorcycles for hire – or habal-habal in Filipino – were more prevalent in rural areas of the country where public transportation options are limited. A number of them operated in central business districts, but they were mostly arranged through informal means such as Facebook groups.

Photo credit: Angkas

Angkas formalized these transactions through an app. Majority of the platform’s customers now use it one to three times a week.

Pricing across the three motorcycle taxi apps is similar, with a 20% commission rate.

The competition, then, is over how many drivers and customers each player can attract to its platform.

As a Grab subsidiary, Move It can acquire new customers more easily. On the Grab Philippines app, the “Try Move It” option is next to the “Car” booking feature.

“Very very tough” 2023

Searching for growth