The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has exposed illegal activities in ride-hailing services wherein some vehicles are being allowed by Transport Network Companies (TNCs) to operate even without permits from the national government.

This was the issue brought up by LTFRB chairman Vigor D. Mendoza II when he met with TNC representatives to find ways to address the issues raised by other transport groups regarding the alleged illegal activities in ride-hailing services.

One of these issues, according to Mendoza, is that some of the vehicles being used in ride-hailing services, or called Transport Network Vehicle Service (TNVS), are operating without a franchise or even a provisional authority (PA) from the LTFRB.

In the meeting, Mendoza shut down lengthy explanations of TNC representatives as he emphasized that the mystery riders he deployed confirmed the illegal activity from the TNVS drivers themselves.

Mendoza said some of the TNCs cannot feign innocence on the issue since he himself confirmed that a TNVS was already included, or on board the online service apps of the ride-hailing companies even without PA and franchise.

“We investigated based on the complaints that we have been receiving and we have been monitoring from the social media. And we were able to confirm the violations, through our mystery riders, that include operating the units even without the franchise and provisional authority from us,” said Mendoza.

“But the bigger issue here is that how can these units be included in your service apps when they do not even have a provisional authority from the LTFRB? This is wrong and this must be corrected,” he told the TNC representatives.

The tale of the ‘tempo’

Another illegal activity, this time allegedly involving erring LTFRB personnel, is the modus of the issuance of tempo, or temporary permits.

Based on the initial report, some TNVS operators would consolidate as a group in seeking for a temporary permit to operate in exchange for monetary considerations to erring LTFRB personnel.

Mendoza told TNC representatives to make sure that their TNVS operators put a stop to the practice as he emphasized that no other payment should be made beyond what is legally required in the application and renewal processes.

He urged TNCs to cooperate in the efforts to clean the LTFRB of any wrongdoings.

“Let us improve our working relationship to improve our services to our kababayan. Let us be partners on this and as a good start, let us strengthen our trust and confidence to each other by telling me the truth about the issues that I am raising with you,” said Mendoza.

The TNC representatives vowed to cooperate with the LTFRB, and committed to looking into the proposal to link the LTFRB to the online service apps system as part of the mechanism to check if all their respective service partners are allowed to operate by the LTFRB.

The promise

In return, Mendoza vowed to expedite the processing of all the franchise applications for the TNVS which have been pending for months now.

He also vowed to put a stop to the practice of issuing temporary permits, which some transport groups alleged to be a source of corruption in the agency.

“This will be our good start. I commit to releasing all the franchise applications if all the requirements are met and my office is always open to you to look into all your concerns. If you my office in the morning, I will make sure that your concerns are addressed in the afternoon and if not, I will tell you the reasons why,” said Mendoza.

“In return, I expect you to tell me the truth and not do anything that would violate our rules and regulations. Otherwise, I will cancel everything,” he emphasized.

In doing so, Mendoza said he wants to level the playing field for all the transport operators like passenger jeepneys, buses and taxis that comply with all the requirements to avoid colorum operations.