By Alexandria Dennise San Juan
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has started the calibration and resealing of taxi meters on Tuesday, in accordance with the implementation of government-approved cab fares.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
"Calibration and resealing of meters is done to make sure that the fare is in accordance with what the LTFRB has set," the transport regulator said in a statement on Monday.
LTFRB chairman Atty. Martin Delgra III said in an interview that they have been preparing for the recalibration of fares among taxis with flag down rate set at P40, the first kilometer at P13.50, and the per minute travel time is P2.
During the process, Delgra said taxi operators should start first on paying the resealing fee, then proceed to their taxi meter providers for calibration of fares.
After calibration, taxi operators will go to the resealing area set up by the LTFRB beside Park n' Fly at the corner of Domestic Road and NAIA Road.
A road test would be done to ensure the correct fare has been set.
Once they passed, Delgra said a Taximeter Calibration Certification sticker would be placed on the top right corner of windshield of the taxi.
"Yung seal, hindi pwedeng basta-basta maputol. Otherwise, questionable ang taxi meter mo," Delgra reminded the public.
If a taxi unit is not yet calibrated and is implementing a higher fare to its riders, he said it will be considered as overcharging as the fares of the taxi is based on the taxi meter.
The LTFRB chairman said they are set to reseal over 21,000 taxi units in Metro Manila.
Meanwhile, Delgra added they introduced technology among taxi service including the installment of a closed-circuit television, dashcam, and global positioning system (GPS).
Taxi units should also have a taxi mobile application like the apps being used by transport network vehicle services, from LTFRB-accredited transport network company (TNC).
Currently, three transport network companies have been accredited by the LTFRB for offering taxi service namely Hirna, Micab, and GrabTaxi.
"What we are trying to do is upgrade the taxi service hindi lang sa Metro Manila, sa buong bansa po yan," Delgra shared.
With the resealing of the taxi units, Delgra said they are hoping to decrease number of drivers engaging into "kontrata" system or those setting up their own fares without using the taxi meters.
"We hope to decrease the number of incidents regarding 'pangongontrata' na yan kasi it's already very convenient na magbobook ka ng taxi through your mobile app. Kagaya na rin ng TNVS," he explained.
Before going to calibration and resealing site, the LTFRB reminded taxi operators to bring the complete requirements to avoid inconvenience.
Requirements include the following:
· Duly filled out calibration form (with stencil of chassis);
· Franchise Verification / copy of Decision;
· LTO OR/CR (current registration);
· Passbook;
· Undertaking (GNSS, Dashcam, CCTV and Wifi);
· Certificate of Accreditation (From Accredited Transport Network Company (TNC).