Bus operators face penalties if they won’t scrap fees for Beep cards — DOTr

MANILA, Philippines — Bus operators who will fail to comply with the directive of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to scrap any additional fees for the purchase and loading of Beep cards will face penalties, a consultant of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) said Thursday.

Issuance of Beep cards will be free of charge beginning on Friday, October 9, following a directive from President Rodrigo Duterte Monday night to give it for free. He said that he would discuss the matter with DOTr Sec. Arthur Tugade.

DOTr consultant Alberto Suansing told ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo that penalties may be imposed to bus operators for non-compliance.

“Unang-una na papatawan ng penalty dyan is ‘yung bus operators, dahil ‘yun ang kausap namin… Sila ang mananagot kasi sila ang kausap eh. Basta kami sinabi lang namin sa kanila na dapat walang bayaran ng pamasahe sa loob ng bus para maiwasan ang COVID transfer,” said Suansing.

(First of all, those who will face penalties are the bus operators because they were the ones we spoke with… They will be the ones to be held liable because they were the ones we spoke with. We told them there should be no payment of fare inside buses so that there would be no transmission of the coronavirus.)

“Inorder namin ‘yan through yung aming kausap which is ‘yung bus operators. Sinasabi namin sa bus operators, kung hindi nila kayang ibigay ‘yan humanap kayo ng iba,” he added.

(We ordered that through bus operators. We told the bus operators that if they cannot provide that, then look for other ways.)

Previously, the DOTr has pushed for the shift to cashless transactions for public land transportation services as part of health measures to minimize human interaction in PUVs and reduce the risk of coronavirus transmission.

The LTFRB, through Memorandum Circular 2020-057 signed on Tuesday and released to the media on Wednesday, then ordered the free use of stored value cards for cashless transactions in public transportation, so that commuters will only have to pay for their fare.

The memorandum states that “to alleviate the burden of the riding public, the board directs PUV operators and/or AFCS (Automatic Fare Collection Systems) to remove any charges or fees for the purchase or use of their cards on top of the fare load.”

However, the order does not cover rail lines due to an ongoing concession agreement with AF Payments, Transportation Assistant Secretary Goddes Libiran was quoted as saying in media reports.

This directive from the LTFRB comes after the DOTr suspended the mandatory use of Beep cards for buses on Epifanio Delos Santos Avenue, after AF Payments, Inc., provider of the automatic fare collection system, refused to waive the cost of the cards despite consistent pleas made by the government.

EDV