MANILA, Philippines - The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is set to craft an updated set of rules applicable to vehicle-for-hire to modernize the country’s land transportation regulations and accommodate modern solutions such as Uber.
Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the move of LTFRB is meant to find ways for rules and regulations to support rather than stifle innovations to improve services to the public.
Abaya yesterday brought to the table officials of LTFRB lead by chairman Winston Ginez as well as officials of Uber Philippines and Singapore to thresh out the issues on modern technology solutions for land transportation.
“We will always push for anything that modernizes the country’s transport systems under my watch. Government welcomes tech solutions to transport problems, and fortunately, Uber also wants to work with us to make it happen,” Abaya said.
He pointed out that Uber agreed to submit reforms done in other countries to likewise modernize the land transport regulations of the Philippines.
“Both sides came to the table to find concrete ways to make government regulations more in tune with today’s technologies. We all agreed on two things: first, Uber’s services are for the people’s benefit; and second, regulation is a must for public safety and order,” he added.
For his part, Ginez said services such as the one offered by Uber could fall under the existing “vehicle-for-hire” category.
He pointed out that corresponding rules could be updated in order to encourage the use of similar technologies across other public land transport services including taxis.
During the meeting, representatives from Uber shared experiences in other countries like the US and Singapore that also clamped down on the tech company’s unregulated services.
Government and Uber representatives agreed that ensuring passenger safety remains the top priority.
As such, Uber agreed to ensure the roadworthiness of their vehicles and at the same time require driver partners to provide insurance coverage for their passengers.
Likewise, LTFRB also wants access to the identities of partner drivers of Uber for security reasons.
“Our aim is to encourage the use of even more technologies and innovations across all forms of public land transport. Our taxi reform program, for instance, could adopt similar services such as centralized booking, passenger access to driver identities, and tracking systems for lost-and-found items,” the DOTC chief said.
A partner car of Uber in the Philippines was fined P200,000 after it was apprehended by LTFRB last Oct. 14 due to the absence of a franchise to operate as a public vehicle.
Uber, founded in California in 2009, is a ride-sharing smartphone application that allows commuters to send marker signal to car owners and taxi riders who are willing to pay for a ride to pre-specified pick-up points and destinations.