Enforce discount laws, commuters tell LTFRB
A commuter group on Friday called on the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to uniformly enforce government-mandated discounts for students, senior citizens and persons with disability (PWDs) across all digital ride-hailing platforms offered by transport network companies (TNCs).
The Coalition of Filipino Commuters (CFC), in a statement, made the call amid complaints that ride-hailing services in the Philippines—including Grab, InDrive, Angkas, Maxim, Joyride and Move It—implement the discounts in various means.
Some platforms allegedly fail to offer the discount on their apps altogether, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the law and an exploitation of commuters, according to CFC chair Ira Panganiban.
“The CFC underscores that the lack of standardization and oversight in discount implementation makes it more challenging for Filipino students, senior citizens and PWD commuters to access the discount,” Panganiban said.
“The inconsistency in the implementation not only hampers the intended financial relief but also complicates the verification process, potentially leading to fraudulent claims that could adversely affect driver earnings,” he added.
The group made the call after LTFRB Chair Teofilo Guadiz III said at a hearing in the Senate on Tuesday that TNCs are prohibited from having their drivers shoulder the discounts.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo urged ride-hailing company Grab to review its policy requiring partner drivers to shoulder the mandated discounts on top of the 20 percent to 30 percent platform fee per booking.
“With this setup, drivers can only take home 50-60 percent of their earning[s] per booking, which is unfair for them,” said Tulfo, chair of the Senate committee on public services, which is hearing complaints against TNCs.
Saturnino Mopas, chair of TNVS Community Philippines, confirmed that drivers have been absorbing the 20 percent discount for the past six months, but Guadiz said that this was a violation of its franchise agreement with Grab.
He added that based on their existing policy, Grab should be the one shouldering the said discount and not their drivers.
Jeepneys, too
Guadiz added that they would issue a show-cause order to Grab as he further warned that this violation could lead to the suspension of its franchise.
Tulfo also asked the LTFRB to include in its review the possibility of having jeepney operators cover the same 20 percent discount for individuals with special needs instead of jeepney drivers.
At the same time, he expressed concern about the difficulty of booking Grab rides during rush hour or in case of bad weather.
Lawyer Gregorio Tingson, Grab’s head of public affairs, admitted that they do not have enough drivers to serve the commuting public when the demand is high.
“Many of our drivers do not go out on the road while others wait for traffic volume to become lighter, so they need to be given an incentive to return to the streets, especially when the riding public needs them,” Tingson said.
