The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) issued a show cause order to motorcycle ride-hailing and delivery service app Angkas to explain the alleged violation of motorcycle taxi cap.
LTFRB chief and Motorcycle Taxi Technical Working Group (MC Taxi TWG) chairperson Teofilo Guadiz III, in the show cause order, ordered Angkas “to explain why it should not be suspended or removed from the motorcycle taxi pilot study/program for allegedly exceeding the allocated rider cap for Angkas.”
Angkas was given a period of five days from receipt of the order to formally respond to the show cause order. It was also directed “to appear before the MC Taxi TWG on Dec. 18, 2024 at 3 p.m. at the LTFRB Building in Quezon City.
The LTFRB said in late November it maintained a cap of 45,000 motorcycle taxis in Metro Manila since 2020. Guadiz said in a statement released to the media that “the LTFRB did not increase the number of MC taxis in the National Capital Region.”
“It was pegged at 45,000 three years ago. It still stands at 45,000,” he said.
The only increases implemented by the LTFRB, said Guadiz, were in Regions III and IV, which have a cap of 2,000 motorcycle taxis each, or a total of 4,000. The companies allowed to operate in these regions are Para Xpress, Maxim, Dingdong and GrabBike.
Angkas said in public pronouncements it has 30,000 partner-bikers. The company announced in August that it signed a memorandum of agreement with the Social Security System to extend social security protection to about 50,000 Angkas partner-bikers.
The House of Representatives committee on transportation and transport groups repeatedly called on the government to retain the current cap on motorcycle taxis.
House committee on Metro Manila development vice chair Rep. Joel Chua and various transport groups in April urged the MC Taxi TWG “to prioritize sustainable expansion outside Metro Manila, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach that considers the city’s traffic flow integrity.”
National Public Transport Coalition and National Confederation of Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines president Ariel Lim said, “every additional motorcycle taxi exacerbates our traffic woes and sidelines traditional transport sectors crucial for our city’s mobility.”
