Tugade urges Grab and Uber to follow rules and regulations

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade at a recent Meet Inquirer Multimedia forum. (Photo by YUJI VINCENT GONZALES / INQUIRER.net)

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on Tuesday asked Grab and Uber to comply with transport rules and regulations even as the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) was getting ready for a crackdown on transport network companies (TNCs) that operate without a franchise.

“Pwede ba, mag-rehistro naman kayo? What makes you so different with the other public utility vehicles? Just because you are a TNC, hindi ka na mag-re-rehistro? Hindi naman yata tama ’yan. ‘Yun lang ho ang hinihingi namin,” Tugade said in a Palace briefing.

Earlier, the LTFRB had announced that on July 26 it would start apprehending drivers accredited by TNCs and impound their cars if their firms continue to operate without franchises.

LTFRB said drivers would be slapped with a fine of  P120,000 and their vehicles would be impounded for at least three months if found to be operating without a certificate of public conveyance or provisional license from the agency.

“Consider the following: If you have applicants of TNVS [transportation network vehicle services) in your TNC na ang mga accredited is 56,000, paki-explain mo nga bakit less than percent ang dumadaan sa LTFRB?” Tugade said.

“Out of the 56,000 na nag-oopera ngayon diyan sa kalsada natin, ang nakarehistro lang ho is less than 10 percent,” he added.

The transport chief said the government was not against any shared ridership.

“Let me make it very, very clear: Number one, the Department of Transportation has nothing and is not against any shared ridership,” he said. “Number two, that the DOTr is not against technology. The use of technology to improve the transport system in the country.”

He clarified that the transportation department was “not against convenience for the riding public, we are not against clean motor vehicles.”

Tugade also said the government must get a share of gross revenues from Grab and Uber.

“The government should also have a share from their earnings,” he said. “If needed, there should be mechanics on revenue-share collection. Their respective incomes should also be shared to the government.”

“Kailangan diyan may share din diyan ’yung gobyerno ’yung kinikita doon,” he said. “Kung kailangan may mekanismo at tsaka pamamaraan niyan na ’yung plete [fare] na binabayaran o ‘yung kita na inaambag, eh ibahagi niyo naman sa gobyerno.” /atm