Hearing on PUV surge fee set for next year

MANILA, Philippines — A surge fee in jeepney and bus rides during rush hours will have to wait for next year after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) set another hearing on the transport groups’ petition.

Petitioners attended the first hearing at the LTFRB yesterday and asked for a 30-day period to submit a memorandum. The board set the next hearing on Feb. 2, 2023, according to the transport groups’ lawyer Nichelle Ann Cabog-Bergonia.

The petitioners said they respect the LTFRB’s decision to set the hearing next year even as they wanted to give urgent relief to drivers and operators amid rising fuel prices.

“We have to follow the board’s availability, although we don’t know what will happen in the transport sector in the next three months,” Pasang Masda president Obet Martin told reporters.

“What we, in the transport sector, can do in the meantime is to tighten our belts due to rising gasoline prices,” added Alliance of Concerned Transport Organization (ACTO) national president Liberty de Luna.

In their petition, Pasang Masda, Alliance of Transport Operators and Drivers Association of the Philippines and ACTO asked for a “surge fee” of P1 for jeepneys (both traditional and modern) and P2 for buses during the rush hour periods from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m, except on Sundays and holidays.

The surge price on top of the minimum fare would increase the daily income of drivers, according to the petitioners.

“The current revenues of fixed routes of public utility vehicles are not enough to offset the higher fuel and operating costs incurred during peak hours, where there are fewer round trips… Surchage is the remedy that can give help to PUV operators and drivers,” the petition read, adding that surge pricing would help drivers “hurdle sudden fluctuations or spikes in the cost of fuel.”

The petition seeks surge pricing for jeepneys and buses similar to that of transport network service vehicles, but the surcharge would be cheap, “comparable to the value of SMS/text message and/or candy sold on the street,” making it affordable for passengers.

Meanwhile, a group of transport network vehicle service (TNVS) drivers yesterday protested Grab’s planned two percent commission rate hike.

In a statement, Laban TNVS national president Jun de Leon said the impending commission rate increase on Dec. 1 would reduce the take home pay of drivers.

The LTFRB’s latest fare adjustment that approved a P5 flag-down rate hike for taxis and ride hailing services became “worthless” because of rising fuel and commodity prices, De Leon said, adding that the group plans to hold protest actions against the commission rate and oil price increases.

LTFRB board member and officer-in-charge Riza Marie Paches said they would await any petition questioning Grab’s commission rate hike or refer the matter to their lawyers “for appropriate action.”