LTFRB extends age limit of PUVs

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has approved resolutions extending the age limit of public utility vehicles (PUVs) by two more years and extending the deadline for PUV operators to settle their fees until the end of the year.

LTFRB chair Cheloy Garafil on Saturday announced that they approved the two resolutions on Friday night.

Garafil explained that the first resolution the board approved was extending the payment deadline of supervision fees from Sept. 30 to Dec. 31 this year.

Under Board Resolution No. 163, all penalties have been waived as well by the LTFRB “with respect” to the filing of extending the validity of a PUV’s franchise; the nonfiling of their income tax returns; nonconfirmation of a PUV; late payment of supervision fee covering the years 2020 to 2021; and non-registration of unit from private to for-hire from 2020 to 2021.

“This is based on our discussions with the transport groups, who asked for the waiving of penalties to give them more time on their applications and for them to start on the road again,” Garafil told reporters at a virtual briefing.

Another resolution, BR 164, has been approved as well. This grants the extension of one PUV’s “age limit” to another two years.

This will apply to all PUV denominations whose maximum age limits will expire this year. However, this is not applicable to trucks for hire, Garafil said.

“We are giving them a chance of another two years for them to use their vehicles,” she noted. “We expect that a substantial number of PUVs will benefit from this board resolution based on what we talked about with different transport organizations.”

The maximum age limit of buses is 15 years; UV Express has 13 years; tourist bus, 10 years; and transport network vehicle services units have seven years.

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