LGUs ordered to stop collecting pass-through fees from transport vehicles

It is now illegal to collect transport fees, taxes, and other payments imposed by groups along the path of truckers and motorists following complaints regarding the imposition of unauthorized pass-through fees on the transportation of goods.

The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) made the statement following the issuance of Joint Memorandum Circular (JMC) No. 2021-01 or the Omnibus Guidelines on the Suspension of Local Government Unit (LGU) Imposition and Collection of Illegal Fees and Taxes Relative to the Transport of Goods and Products.

Under the JMC, all local chief executives are enjoined to adhere to the new guidelines refraining the enforcement of "any existing ordinance authorizing the levy of fees and taxes on inter-province transport of goods or merchandise, regulatory fees in local ports, and other additional taxes, fees or charges in any form upon the transport of goods or merchandise."

"These include taxes, fees, and charges and other impositions upon goods carried into or out of, or passing through, the territorial jurisdictions of local government units in the guise of charges for wharfage, tolls for bridges or otherwise, sticker fee, discharging fee, delivery fee, market fee, toll fee, entry fee, and/or mayor’s permit fee, or other taxes, fees, or charges in any form whatsoever upon such goods or merchandise," the document read.

Existing local ordinances on pass-through fees and taxes for any form of transported goods and products shall be subjected to a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA).

According to ARTA Director-General Jeremiah Belgica, ARTA, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Department of Finance (DOF) worked on crafting the JMC to address the "mounting complaints" regarding the collection of different fees.

"We did it together because we heard you, the people. This venture started after mounting complaints were made," he said.

"Through this JMC, it will be illegal to collect transport fees, taxes, and other payments imposed by groups along the path of our truckers and other motorists," he added.

Belgica said they have created an oversight committee that will check on the progress and ensure that the JMC is properly implemented. The said committee is composed of DILG-Bureau of Local Government Development, DOF-Bureau of Local Government Finance, ARTA, and public and private stakeholders.

Meanwhile, ARTA shall conduct its own regulatory review of ordinances by LGUs that received a show-cause order from DILG’s Local and Legislative Liaison Service (LLLS).

The LGUs that fail to comply with this directive may be probed.

ARTA, likewise, may investigate those who will be found violating any of the provisions of the Ease of Doing Business Act. It can file charges with recommendations for preventive suspension against erring government officials.