THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Tuesday ordered a rollback on taxi fares, except in the Cordillera Administrative Region.
In an order, the agency said the continued decline of crude oil prices prompted it to issue a rollback.
The LTFRB ordered the reduction of the taxi flag-down rate to P30 for the flag-down rate that is good for the first 500 meters of every trip, P3.50 for every succeeding 300 meters thereafter, and P3.50 for every 90-second waiting time.
Airport taxis, on the other hand, will now have a flag-down rate of P60, P4 for every succeeding 500 meters after the first 500 meters, and P4 for every 90-second waiting time.
“After carefully weighing and considering various socioeconomic factors, the board decided that the favorable effects of the steady and steep downtrend of crude prices, which have a higher and direct impact to the transport sector being enjoyed by transport operators and drivers, must also be passed on to the commuting public,” LTFRB Chairman Winston M. Ginez said on Tuesday.
The decision was supported and was recommended by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) Board and the Department of Trade and Industry.
“Taking into proper account and consideration of the recommendation of these government agencies, the confluence of circumstances and incidents that transpired in local and world economy market, and the rights of public land-transport operators vis-à-vis the interest of the public in general, the board is now constrained to issue the consolidated order,” Ginez added.
The reduction of the flag-down rate will take effect 10 days from publication of the order in national daily newspapers, even without calibration and resealing of the taxi-meter. The board has scheduled the recalibration and resealing of meters on different dates from April to June.
Taxi operators who fail to calibrate and reseal their taximeters on the above-mentioned schedule will be penalized P5,000. Taxi units not following the new approved rates will be penalized P5,000 per violation.
Several petitions for fare adjustments were submitted before the regulator, saying that “the increasing price of spare parts, labor, cost of living, basic commodities and other incidental costs for the operation of taxi services must be considered in conjunction with fuel prices in the determination and adjustment of fares.”
Other factors the petitioners mentioned in their argument include the high cost of living, low taxi fares, not ideal workplace, traffic congestion, sudden proliferation of transportation network vehicle service, such as Uber and Grab, unreasonable traffic enforcers, discount fares for senior citizens and unreasonable boundary imposed by operators.
“In every proceeding for fare adjustment, the board always strived to strike a balance between the respective interests of both the riding public and the operators and their drivers in order to arrive at a fair and reasonable fare,” Ginez said.