DOTr allows consolidation for PUVs with previous authority to operate

Public utility vehicles include jeepneys. Inquirer photo/Richard A. Reyes

[Updated May 7, 2025. 6:23 p.m.]

MANILA, Philippines — The new order by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) allows previously unconsolidated public utility vehicle (PUV) operators to apply for consolidation and continue operations. They will have limitations, though.

READ: DOTr reopens consolidation application for PUV operators

The DOTr’s Department Order No. 2025-009 covers public utility jeepney (PUJ) and UV Express (UVE) operators with previous provisional authority (PAs) who failed to consolidate or with pending applications or motions to accept consolidation and with units confirmed with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and registered with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) for the years 2023 or 2024.

Under the order, the eligible PUJ and UVE operators can join or form Transport Service Entities (TSEs) in routes with at least 60 percent consolidated units, provided they previously held authority to operate there.

TSEs refer to the legal entity of transport operators with an issued Certificate of Public Convenience (CPC) or pending applications for consolidation, which may accept new members within the limits of the Number of Authorized Units (NAU) assigned to the route.

READ: DOTr sets new rules for PUV drivers after fatal crashes

“In cases where existing consolidated TSEs are unable to admit additional members…covered PUJ and UVE Operators shall be allowed to operate in existing and rationalized routes without consolidated TSEs, subject to final determination upon the implementation of the transfer plan,” the order read.

Specific guidelines for operations are as follows:

• Routes with 60 percent or more consolidated NAU: Operators may join a TSE within the route, provided the total Number of Operating Units (NOU) does not exceed the approved NAU.
• Routes with less than 60 percent consolidated NAU: Operators may either join existing TSEs or form their own cooperatives or corporations if not accepted by existing TSEs, as long as they were previously granted authority or their NOU does not exceed the allowed units.
• Routes without any TSE: Operators may renew their PAs but only on routes where they were previously authorized to operate or apply for a new PA in another route provided that there is no TSE exist there and that NOU does not exceed the allowed units.
• New/Developmental routes with no selected TSEs: Individual operators shall be allowed to operate in available new/developmental routes, provided that the routes have undergone two operator selection processes, but not a single TSE has applied and, or been selected in any of the bidding.
• Low NAU routes: Operators can continue to operate without consolidation, subject to future approvals under the Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) or other rationalization studies.

Meanwhile, to ensure service quality, all operators are directed to:

• Use common fleet operations management systems, including an agreed service plan;
• Share terminals and garages, if available;
• Comply with safety requirements, including vehicle and driver inspections prior to dispatch.

The order states that PAs will be valid for one year and shall be subject to extension and renewal in accordance with the subsequent implementing guidelines to be issued by the LTFRB.

It also maintained that PAs shall only be issued to individual operators upon strict compliance with the Department’s existing and future policies and the LTFRB’s roadworthiness test for the Motor Vehicle Inspection System (MVIS) of the LTO.

Financial Relief and Policy Review

Meanwhile, in an effort to “alleviate the financial burden of the individual operators,” the DOTr also directed the LTO, LTFRB, and Office of Transportation Cooperatives to explore deferring the payment of registration, consolidation, and other pertinent fees and penalties, subject to relevant policies.

Furthermore, the DOTr tasked a special committee to review policies, processes, and issues on consolidation and the equitable and just transition of unconsolidated operators in the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP).

The LTFRB, OTC, and LTO, are then tasked with issuing further implementing guidelines and revising existing regulations to align with the new directive.

Meanwhile, LTFRB chair Teofilo Guadiz III in a chance interview in Quezon City bared that there will be no specific deadline for the reopened consolidation application.

“We do not have a deadline, unlike in the previous industry consolidation, a deadline was placed by the DOTr. For this one, there are no deadlines to give them ample time,” said Guadiz.

However, Guadiz clarified that there will be a “cut-off time” once a substantial number of PUV operators have consolidated.

“Definitely may cut off time later on. But we are not restricting ourselves with the self-imposed deadline,” explained Guadiz.

“We will assess how many consolidated. Once there is a substantial amount, then we will eventually put a closure to the first phase of the industry consolidation,” he added. /MR