THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulator Board said on Friday it canceled the certificates of public convenience of three units of United Land Transport & Bus Co. Inc (Ultra Bus) for operating without special permit during the Christmas season last year.
LTFRB said it found Ultra Bus’ units bearing plate numbers AAI-9134, AAI-9133, AAI-9130 without the required special permit to operate during the Christmas holidays.
Ultra Bus, through its counsel, filed its answer to the show-cause order on Feb. 11, 2016, alleging that the bus company was about to reapply for another special permit to transport passengers from Alabang to Cubao for the Christmas season, but failed to timely secure one.
Under the Board’s policy, special bus permit for special holidays must be filed at least two weeks prior to the start of the duration of the permit.
Upon further verification, the Board found out that the three units of Ultra Bus operated during the Christmas holidays without the special permit, which falls under the operation of colorum violation for operating the units outside of its approved route or without a prior permit from the Board.
“Our findings show that Ultra Bus violated the terms and conditions of its CPC, hence, we are ordering them to pay the penalties corresponding to it pursuant to Joint Administrative Order 2014-01,” LTFRB chairman Winston Ginez said.
The Board orders Ultra Bus to pay P1 million each for the three units for colorum operations. All the CPCs of the three units are canceled and reverted back to the State. The units are also impounded for three months.
In addition, the Board ordered the bus company to surrender all the yellow plates of its 10 units five days upon receipt of the order.
