From 00:00 on November 8, 2026 through February 28, 2027, every trip on the Green SM platform gets an automatic 25% fare discount. Riders do not need to enter a code.Dân trí The program, called "Green Winter - For a Green Future", was announced by Green SM on the morning of November 7. For riders the discount is easy to grasp. The part worth reading closely is the driver policy: while riders pay three quarters of the fare, one group of drivers is still paid as if the trip had never been discounted.
This post looks for the answer to one question: who bears that 25% gap, and why does the compensation come with a condition to drive for one app only?
The rider side: a quarter off for nearly four months
According to Người Quan Sát, the program runs for almost four months, and Green SM says its goal is to cut travel costs for residents during the year-end peak and the new-year period.Người Quan Sát BNews notes that the period includes the Tet holiday.BNews
The math for riders is simple. A trip that used to cost VND 100,000 costs VND 75,000 during the program. The discount applies as a percentage, so the longer the trip, the more a rider saves. Green SM's announcement says "all trips on the platform", so no extra step is needed in the app.
The driver side: paid on the fare before the discount
According to the announcement as relayed by CafeF, "Green Drivers" who register to operate only on the Green SM platform receive the full trip fare before the 25% promotional code is applied.CafeF That includes 100% of transport revenue plus the platform fee, at 6% for cars or 6.7% for motorbikes. This group also gets free charging with an allowance equal to twice the kilometres driven in service.Dân trí
Two points deserve separating. First, the fare used to pay the driver is the base fare, not what the rider actually pays after the discount. Second, the platform fee, normally the company's share, is also passed to the driver for the whole program. Green SM calls this "free platform".
The second group with its own terms is Green SM's in-house drivers and drivers of partner businesses (Green SM Partner). They get extra income equal to up to 6% revenue sharing.Người Quan Sát "Up to 6%" is a ceiling, so what each person actually receives may be lower.
The gap sits with the company
Put the two sides together: the rider pays 75% of the fare, while a driver who runs only Green SM is counted on 100% of the fare plus the platform fee. That difference is not deducted from the driver and not charged to the rider. By Green SM's own description of the program, the company absorbs it.
Green SM explains its reasoning. The company says the driver policies are designed to protect drivers' earnings when fares are discounted, while creating room for higher income as trip volume is expected to rise during the promotion.Người Quan Sát The program is also meant to help customers and partners switch to green vehicles and cut urban pollution.Dân trí
Pham Nhat Minh Hoang, CEO of GSM Global, told the press this is a chance for drivers to raise income by 30-50%, thanks to more riders, revenue sharing, the platform-fee waiver and bonus programs.CafeF That is the company's expectation. The increase depends on whether each driver's trip count actually rises, not on how each individual trip is paid.
You can read the arithmetic in two layers. The first is income per trip: for a driver who runs only Green SM, it is held at the old fare, plus the platform fee. The second is trip count: a fare that is a quarter cheaper may draw more riders, and that is the bet Green SM is placing so that drivers earn more.
On scale, Green SM says it had completed about 850 million trips as of September 2026.BNews At that size, a 25% fare cut on every trip for nearly four months is a substantial outlay for the company.
The one-app condition
The driver compensation does not apply to everyone. The two groups announced are drivers registered to operate only on Green SM, and in-house drivers together with partner-business drivers. A driver who keeps several ride-hailing apps switched on at once is in neither group.
So the condition for being paid on the base fare is to stay with a single app. For someone who currently runs Green SM alongside another app, the program sets up a comparison: income from driving only Green SM at the base fare, with the platform fee returned and charging free, versus income from keeping the rider pools of several apps. The result differs by person, depending on area, hours and vehicle type.
Tying the compensation to this condition also means the program works on both sides of the platform at once. Riders are drawn in by a lower price. Drivers are retained by pay calculated on the old fare. A ride-hailing platform needs enough drivers to serve the extra demand, or cheap fares do not turn into trips.
The same week, Grab announced its own plan
Green SM's program arrived in a week of several changes in the ride-hailing market. On November 5, after the National Competition Commission reviewed Grab's pricing and fee policies, prompted by driver complaints from late August to mid-September, Grab proposed six groups of measures, most effective from November 10. That plan was announced before Green SM's program, so it cannot be read as a reaction to it.
According to VnExpress, from November 10 the app usage fee Grab charges drivers falls from a range of 0-28.76% to 0-25% of the total amount the rider pays. Grab's total take from platform fees and app usage fees will not exceed 32% of the rider's total payment. In the fourth quarter, Grab plans to spend VND 860 billion on driver bonus programs and about VND 1,808 billion to stimulate rider demand. The total revenue reduction and support spending is expected at about VND 2,951 billion.VnExpress
Grab will also cut 10% off the total fare for trips of 10 km or more, from February 26, 2027 through December 31, 2027, under separate conditions.Báo Xây dựng That start date falls two days before Green SM's program ends. After the adjustment, GrabCar drivers receive about 59.68% to 84.31% of the rider's total payment, after fees and taxes. That figure cannot be compared directly with Green SM's, because one is calculated after fees and taxes on what the rider pays, while the other is calculated on the base fare before the discount.
What the two moves share: in the final quarter of the year, Green SM and Grab are both spending money on riders and drivers alike.
The next four months, group by group
For riders, every Green SM trip from 00:00 on November 8 through February 28, 2027 costs a quarter less than the listed fare, per the company's announcement.
For drivers registered to run only Green SM, income per trip is calculated on the old fare, plus the platform fee and the free charging allowance. The 30-50% increase cited by GSM's leadership arrives only if trip counts actually rise.
For drivers who run several apps, the program does not put them in the compensated group. To be paid on the base fare, they must register to run Green SM only.
For rival ride-hailing companies, a price a quarter lower that lasts through year-end and Tet is a new competitive baseline. The signal to watch is app pricing after February 28, 2027: if Green SM fares return to the old level, that is when we learn how many riders and drivers stay once the compensation is gone.