MANILA, Philippines — Ride-sharing company Uber on Tuesday announced that it is temporarily suspending its operations following the cease and desist order of the Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board order.
"In compliance with the LTFRB order issued on August 14, 2017, we are temporarily suspending operations starting at 6:00am, Tuesday August 15th," Uber said in a statement posted on social media.
"We understand that this will impact thousands of riders and drivers, and we apologize for the inconvenience this will cause," it added.
The temporary suspension would last for a month.
On Monday, the LTFRB ordered the suspension Uber's accreditation for a month. The board also directed suspension of its online booking application on the same period.
LTFRB said the order was effective immediately. Uber received the order on Monday evening.
The board also recommended UBer to provide financial assistance to its affected peer-operators during the period of suspension "as an expression of good faith as their accredited peer-operators would not have suffered current predicament were it not for the predatory actions."
In July, the LTFRB directed ride-sharing companies Uber and Grab to stop the operations of transport network vehicle services drivers, who do not have the required certificates of public convenience or provisional authorities that grant them franchises to operate.
The board said the order would become executory on July 26.
However, this directive earned negative criticisms from both drivers and the riding public.
Both Uber and Grab earlier admitted they continued accepting drivers into their platforms despite the LTFRB’s directives.
Earlier, Yves Gonzales, who heads the public policy at Uber, said suspension of its operation would be "catastrophic" for the riding public.
"Fares will be max all the time, wait times will be hours not minutes. People will just not be able to get a ride overall. Imagine how hard it is to get a ride now on a Friday night with the existing supply. When you remove the unregistered, it’s an impossible situation for everyone,” he said in a column of Boo Chanco at The STAR.
Despite the suspension, Uber vowed to remain committed to its consumers.
"We are still deeply committed to serving you, and are doing everything we can to resolve this situation in the soonest possible time We are grateful for the support you have given us," Uber said.