A House leader on Tuesday called for the transfer of supervision of ride-hailing services from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to the Department of Transportation in the wake of the recent acquisition by Grab Philippines of the Southeast Asian operations of its main rival Uber.
Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said the buyout by Grab of its biggest rival in the business has led to a monopoly in the ride-hailing business in the country.
“This monopoly would leave the public at the mercy of a single mega TNS company that would be able to dictate fare prices and be less enthusiastic in improving its services, knowing that riders are left with very limited options,” Villafuerte, vice chairman of the House committee on local government, said.
Villafuerte made the statement after Grab announced last week that it had acquired Uber’s operations in the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia. Under the share swap agreement, Uber would be getting a 27.5 percent stake in Grab. Uber will shut down its operations here starting April 8 as part of the deal.
Villafuerte earlier filed House Bill 6467 which provides that the DOTr, and not the LTFRB, must have authority over TNCs and TNVS.
The reason being, Villafuerte said, is that the vehicles used in the point-to-point (P2P) transport services are “private carriers” and not common or public carriers that fall under LTFRB supervision.
He said TNVS, like the drivers of Uber and Grab, should be classified as “private carriers.” They can choose not to offer their car-riding services by signing off from the platform and their services are by special agreement only, unlike “common carriers” which are persons, corporations or associations engaged in the business of carrying or transporting passengers or goods or both, for compensation, he said.
Villafuerte said implementing an overhaul to the existing regulations for transport network vehicle services (TNVS) attached to transport network companies (TNCs) like Grab and transferring control over these providers from the LTFRB to the DOTr would make the government more responsive to the needs of the riding public.”‹
Villafuerte hit the LTFRB for its “ill-conceived guidelines” for TNVS due to its misguided interpretation on the role of these service providers.
“The LTFRB treats TNVS as common carriers like taxicabs and passenger buses when the nature of the service they provide clearly show that they are not. This is probably the reason it is having a hard time coming up with the guidelines,” Villafuerte said.