Chat-meets-helpdesk connecting thousands of Grab drivers
Last Updated on September 16, 2025
by White Widget Team
Aspiring to fuel the future of mobility? Let's shift expectations and give your transport fleet a boost.
One of the biggest challenges in the ride hailing space is that operators like Grab want to create their own vibrant online community, while still being able to turn chat messages into actionable issues. That gap in helpdesk management caused thousands of hours of wasted time for moderators, and countless uncaught pain points from drivers - and normal chat apps could not deliver a solution. That’s the problem we looked at solving when working with the innovative team at Grab. Grab is Southeast Asia’s largest tech startup, with a market capitalization of $10 billion as of 2022. When they needed to transform their internal communications, they tapped White Widget to create a new type of platform that would help them build camaraderie between their drivers while enabling their moderators to still manage their fleets.
Making Grab its own Chat Platform
iOS and Android App
Product Design
UX Research
Custom Development
Android Native App
iOS Native App
Web Moderator Backoffice
Web Driver Chat
Productivity Analytics
Cybersecurity
Infrastructure
DevOps
Years before Google Chat and Slack would make chat-to-task mainstream, we innovated this feature with Grab’s KGC, which stands for “Ka-Grab Community,” a standalone community chat platform on Android, iOS, and web. Featuring public chatrooms, private moderator messaging, and bulk importing of drivers, KGC allowed Grab to create fleet chatrooms where their drivers could attach photos, react to messages, hold meetings and get help with pressing issues. Moderators in Grab had access to a web platform where they could manage the chat rooms, and respond to drivers promptly at a level not possible before. As drivers would tend to report similar issues to Grab at the same time, feedback between Grab and its drivers would now become fast and more informal, instead of relying on public announcements and notifications. For more unique issues, drivers turned to 1-1 moderator chat to resolve their problems. The app also became a place for drivers shoot the breeze, and it quickly transformed into a private community center that drivers could safely share advice and feedback in.
Massive Scale
Grab wanted to test holding a large-scale event meet and greet, inviting over a hundred thousand drivers to one chat room. White Widget had to fix and update the platform to scale that way while the event was going on, and got the scaling resolved in minutes. This would not have been possible with commercial chat solutions, and is a testament to the customer service we always seek to deliver.
Core features
Public Chat Rooms
Public chat rooms are great for drivers to share information quickly. They're also handy for getting in touch with Grab admin together. Plus, drivers can let others know about any road problems they spot.
Private Messages
Drivers can message Grab admin directly with their personal concerns and issues, and expect a quick response through private messaging. Their shared information is kept secure and confidential.
News Feed
Drivers are always updated with the latest perks and updates from Grab through their news feed.
Quizzes and Rankings
Quizzes and rewards are set up to entertain drivers and educate the drivers on how to use the driver app.
Grab has incredibly high tech standards, and at launch, White Widget was the only external partner Grab PH ever trusted for development.
About the Authors
White Widget Team is known for delivering holistic, award-winning software solutions across diverse sectors such as transport, healthcare, and media, emphasizing a comprehensive approach to digital innovation, since the company was founded in 2012.