LTFRB approves taxi fare increase

CEBU, Philippines - Here’s some bad news for the commuters this Christmas season  taxi fares in Cebu will go up next month.

While holiday shoppers and revelers are now lining up for several minutes to get a taxi ride, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) issued last December 23 an order authorizing the increase.

Effective January 15, the flag down rate shall be P40, up by P10 from the current rate. This is good for the first 500 meters.

The rate for the succeeding 300 meters traveled after the first half kilometer will also increase by P1 to P3.50.

The new rates are contained in LTFRB Order for Case No. 2010-0295.

LTFRB-7 Director Ahmed Cuizon said his office received the order through mail yesterday.

The petition was filed last April yet. There are, however, requirements that the operator of a taxi unit has to meet before the increase can be implemented.

Only those units that have a meter receipt printer will be allowed to increase fares.

This is not a new requirement as this was implemented by LTFRB before, but compliance has not been high.

Cuizon said that LTFRB will not allow the manual issuance of receipt this time so operators, who are yet to upgrade their meters, have barely three weeks to comply.

“There is no deadline for them, but they cannot impose increase unless they comply with the conditions,” Cuizon said.

Richard Cabucos, president of the Metro Cebu Taxi Operators Association said that operators and drivers are delighted with the recent development, but they might not be able to implement the increase immediately as 99 percent of taxi operators have no metering receipt.

“Sa una, gitugtan man gud mi nga mag-manual lang na resibo so naundang to pagpalit sa machine. Wala m mag-anticipate na ilang butangan og condition so karon, wala mi choice kundi mupalit sa machine.

“Unya tan-awon pa nato kung makaproduce ba ang supplier dayon, so murag mga Pebrero na gyud mi maka-increase ani,” Cabucos said.

LTFRB will not also calibrate the meter to the new rate and will not seal it if the unit has no receipt printer taxi meter.

The cheapest metering receipt costs between P3,000 to P4,000.

There are more than 6,000 taxi units operating in Central Visayas, some 4,000 of them are owned by members of MCTOA.

Drivers must also wear uniforms at all times and must issue receipts to the passengers whether or not the passengers ask for it.

For every violation of the rule, the driver or operator must pay the fine of P2,500 per offense.

Cuizon said that they are expecting complaints from passengers once the news is out.

“But we are bound to comply the order. So advice na lang nato sa passengers is to report any violation to the LTFRB or to the proper authorities,” Cuizon said.

The petition was filed last April by MCTOA’s mother federation, the Philippine National Taxi Operators Association, for nationwide increase in the taxi fare rate.

PNTOA have members in Cebu, Manila, Valenzuela, Bacolod and Davao.

Cabucos said that they joined the call for an increase in the rate because they can no longer bear the high prices of fuel and other petroleum products.

Drivers are expecting over 30 percent increase in their income once the new rate is implemented.

Cabucos said that they are not expecting complaints from the general public because he said that in the first place, their market are only those who can afford their service.

“Mao man na among giingon didto sa LTFRB nga tugtan mi sa increase kay tutal, and taxi for luxury ra man, di man ni necessity. Para ra sa katong makaafford.

“Kung ang pasahero di ka-afford, naa ma’y jeep. So adto mi maghuwat sa maka-afford,” he said. — /NLQ  (FREEMAN)