Group wants taxi flag-down rate back to P40

MANILA, Philippines – A transport group will ask the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to increase the flag-down rate for taxis back to P40 following the series of oil price hikes.

The Philippine National Taxi Operators Association will file next week a petition to increase taxi fares, PNTOA president Bong Suntay said on Tuesday.

Last March, the LTFRB implemented a provisional rollback of P10 in the flag-down rate for taxis nationwide, which reduced the basic fare from P40 to P30.

Suntay is hopeful the board will approve the petition, citing the traffic congestion in Metro Manila, continuing increase in oil prices and inflation rate.

“The LTFRB should review the provisional P30 flag-down rate for taxis so operators can recover from operational expenses,” he said.

The group also wants to increase from P3.50 to P5 the succeeding rates for every two minutes of waiting time.

The PNTOA filed a petition for a taxi fare increase when Winston Ginez headed the LTFRB, but no action was taken.

Suntay believes the petition will be granted under LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra.

The PNTOA will also ask the LTFRB to review the fare schemes of transport network vehicles (TNVs) such as Uber, Grab and Uhop, which were allowed to increase fares during rush hour and weather disturbances.

“There should be a fair playing field for taxi operators and transport network companies,” Suntay said.

He said TNVs were allowed to set their own fares under a circular issued by former transportation secretary Jun Abaya.