'Ano daw?': LTFRB fact-checks TNVS vlogger, says declining booking is illegal
Can ride-hailing service drivers decline passengers on their online booking platform?
Definitely not as it is tantamount to refusal to convey passengers which is a violation of the conditions set for operating public utility vehicles, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) clarified on Sunday, June 28.
LTFRB chairman Vigor D. Mendoza II issued the clarification after a vlogger, who claimed to be working as a partner for a popular Transport Network Company (TNC), posted a vlog saying Transport Network Vehicle Service (TNVS) partners are being allowed to decline booking in ride-hailing service application.
The video was sent to Mendoza by some netizens to confirm whether or not such a claim is true.
It is false, according to Mendoza who said they will summon the TNC cited in the vlog to confirm whether or not the vlogger is its partner and whether or not the ride-hailing firm is indeed allowing its TNVS partners to decline booking.
For Mendoza, doing so is a plain and simple violation of the conditions set in both the provisional authority and the Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC).
“Transporting all passengers to their destination is the main reason for the authority granted by the government to public transportation operators,” said Mendoza.
“Ride-hailing services, just like other public utility vehicles, are bound by the rules and regulations that include a provision that refusing to convey passengers is a violation and is punishable,” he explained.
The vlogger also claimed that declining passenger booking can be done especially if the TNVS driver is not comfortable with the destination of the passenger.
Mendoza, however, clarified that the authority to operate TNVS and other PUVs is granted not for the comfort of the drivers and operators but the riding public.
“I do not know how and where this TNVS driver got that wrong idea. This is wrong and dangerous since it compromises the rules and regulations that govern TNVS,” said Mendoza.
“I would also like to remind the TNCs to clear the rules and regulations with all their TNVS partners, especially on the provision that refusing to convey passengers and failure to provide safe and convenient public land transportation service,” he added.