P13.50-per-kilometer taxi fare hike OK’d
By Patrizia Paola C. Marcelo
THE LAND Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said Wednesday, Oct. 4, it has approved the petition to increase taxi fares.
In a decision, the LTFRB authorized taxi services in the National Capital Region (NCR) and provinces including the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) to charge P13.50 for every kilometer traveled on top of the flag-down rate of P40, and charge P2 for every minute of waiting time on the road.
Current rates are P3.50 for every 300 meters and P3.50 per minute of waiting time.
Taxi operator groups (Philippine National Taxi Operators Association (PNTOA), Basic Transport Management Corp., RLC Ubercabs, Inc., 768 Taxi Corp., Winelean Transport Corp., and Rolando Quiacho filed petitions last year seeking a taxi fare increase, citing such reasons as the long period of time between the increase in fares (with the last fare increase implemented in 2010), and reduction of income of taxi drivers due to traffic congestion, particularly in Metro Manila.
PNTOA also filed a position paper on Feb. 10 this year, enumerating their points on increasing the taxi fare, such as financial difficulty among taxi operators due to increasing expenses and the LTFRB’s mandate to protect utility vehicles “against illegal competition.”
“What convinced the Board in resolving in favor of the petitioners’ prayer for fare increase is the fact that the last increase was granted way back 2010,” the Board said in its decision.
The Board added that part of its functions is to fix rates aside from granting franchises to public utility vehicles (PUVs), and emphasized its role in regulating unbalanced pricing: “It should be emphasized the rate fixing is an equally important function of a regulatory board in tandem with franchising and regulation. If, after grant of franchises, these public utilities are left to charge or impose fares at their own whims and caprices, a regulatory body is also rendered ineffective.”
