LTFRB: Crackdown set vs drivers of ‘illegal’ ride-hailing app

LTFRB board member Aileen Lizada INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Transport authorities are poised to launch a nationwide crackdown against drivers of the new ride-hailing app Arcade City should they continue to defy the government and push through with its operations without the accreditation on Monday.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Saturday assailed Arcade City for its continued defiance of the cease-and-desist order against it, as the agency pointed out that the app is encouraging the establishment of illegal transport network companies (TNCs), as well as the activation of unregistered transport network vehicle service (TNVS) providers.

LTFRB board member Aileen Lizada said that Arcade City’s business model promotes illegality by espousing that TNCs no longer have to be accredited to be able to operate in the country.

Arcade City also claimed that its drivers need not apply for a franchise from the government for them to ferry passengers.

Lizada said this is why when Arcade City app goes online on Monday, enforcers from the LTFRB, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Land Transportation Office and the Philippine National Police’s Highway Patrol Group will be implementing the power the law against the unregistered ride-hailing app.

Lizada warned that members of the law enforcers will be operating undercover as they themselves would avail Arcade City’s services to apprehend drivers and impound their vehicles.

“We cannot afford any more irregularities such as this. We need to protect the riding public,” Lizada told the Inquirer.

After Arcade City was ordered this week to cease operations for the second time, it taunted the LTFRB by saying that the board does not understand how its technology and model work.

“Arcade City does not provide ‘pre-arranged transportation services for compensation’ and therefore does not fit the LTFRB definition of a transportation network company. Driver entrepreneurs may freely identify as Arcade City drivers, but Arcade City does not require payment from riders or drivers,” it said in a statement.

Based on its website, the app would incentivize the growth of its driver and rider network through a blockchain-based cryptocurrency called “arcade tokens.” These tokens could either be sold or used within Arcade’s ecosystem for services and bonus features.

Lizada said that on top of apprehending Arcade drivers for “colorum” operations, the LTFRB will also coordinate with the Department of Information and Communications Technology and the US Embassy to “protest” the actions of the company’s founder and CEO, Christopher David.

“He is making a mockery of our rules and regulations,” Lizada said of David, who packages his company as a supposed alternative to Uber.

Uber ceased operating as a TNC by Monday, running counter to the Philippine Competition Commission’s (PCC) order for it to remain in operations while a review on the deal of its acquisition by Grab is being conducted.

The PCC feared that Uber’s exit from the country’s ride-hailing industry gives Grab a monopoly of the industry. The LTFRB, however, pointed out that it is already fast-tracking the accreditation of three new TNCs—Lag Go, Hype and Owto—which would compete with Grab. /jpv

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