LTFRB wants Taxi Fares to be on par with Uber, Grab

The Land Transport Regulatory and Franchising Board (LTFRB) has “unanimously agreed” to raise the taxi fares to be on par with private TNVS (transport network vehicle services) companies Uber and Grab, its Chairman Martin Delgra III has announced Wednesday during the agency’s 2018 budget hearing in the Senate.

Delgra has cited the need to increase the fares to hopefully help solve the problem of cab underutilization. “Ang gagawin, we will try to make it on par with TNVS or more particularly with the Uber system kasi nade-dehado daw mga taxi drivers ngayon. […] Ang gagawin na namin ng Board, we have already agreed unanimously, we are going to do it on a running time rate so aside from the distance travelled, meron na ring papasok on the time travel,” Delgra said.

Both Uber and Grab are computing their fares from point to point based on distance covered and running time on the road, as well as “traffic, weather or any factors that extend the distance or duration of [the] ride can contribute to a difference between [the] estimated and actual fare.”

The LTFRB has already conducted a dialogue with taxi operators two weeks ago and will be issuing a decision by the end of the month.

Source: Senate / YouTube