LTFRB starts calibration of taxis for new fare rate

CEBU, Philippines — The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)-7 has started on Monday calibrating taxi units in Cebu.

LTFRB-7 regional director Ahmed Cuizon said that so far only a few taxi units are already calibrated.

Calibration and sealing/resealing of taxi meters shall be done at the South Road Properties near Plaza Sugbu Building.

Last year, LTFRB issued Memorandum Circular Number 2017-026 or the implementing guidelines for calibration and sealing/resealing of taxi meter for 2017 fare adjustment.

Under the memorandum, calibration of taxi units is from February 19 to June 4, 2018.

LTFRB is implementing a schedule for taxi unit calibration depending on its plate number.

Taxi units with plate number ending with 2 and 7 are scheduled from February 19 to March 12; for those ending with ending 3 and 8, the schedule is from March 13 until April 3; for 4 and 9, the schedule is April 3 to April 23; for 5 and 0 is April 24 to May 14 and for 1 and 6, the schedule is May 15 to June 4.

Cuizon said that taxi operators who will not have their taxi units calibrated during their schedule will pay a penalty of P200 per day per taxi unit.

In October last year, LTFRB approved a new taxi fare rate. The flag down rate is P40 and succeeding rate is P13.50 for every kilometer instead of P3.50 for every 300 meters.  The P3.50 rate for every two minutes of waiting time is no longer in effect but commuters will be charged P2 for every minute of their travel time.

Under the memorandum, prior to the calibration and sealing/resealing of a taxi unit, it must be equipped with a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, free WI-Fi, CCTV with a 72-hour continuous recording feature, a dashboard camera and online digital platforms.

"Taxi operators must submit an evaluation report regarding the adequacy of taxi meter memory to store transaction of data and Certificate of Accuracy of taximeter from DOST-National Metrology Laboratory prior to calibration and resealing/testing," Cuizon said. (FREEMAN)