Angara asks LTFRB to make ‘compromise pact’ with Grab, Uber

Drivers of app-based transportation network companies signed a petition on July 7, 2017, asking the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to lift the ban on new applications of drivers. (File photo courtesy of GRAB)

Sen. Sonny Angara on Tuesday urged the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and transportation network companies (TNC) Grab and Uber to immediately resolve their dispute and come up with a “compromise pact” over the firms’ franchise to operate.

“We are concerned with the ongoing issue between the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and ride-sharing companies Grab and Uber. I hope that both parties would come up with a compromise pact at the soonest time possible,” Angara said in a statement.

The senator lamented that the Grab and Uber riders were the commuters who had been frustrated with the country’s poor public transportation system, particularly the MRT and LRT.

The affected commuters, he said, were usually the victims of taxi driverswho either refuse to ferry them or demand extra payment.

Angara said any settlement, however, should be in accordance with existing rules and regulations.

“But this is not to say that anyone is exempted from following existing rules and regulations,” he said. “That is why for the sake of the riding public, I call on both parties to sit down and resolve the matter ASAP.”

The senator also reminded the government to speed up its projects on improving the country’s public transport system to provide commuters with better transportation options.

“Eto na marahil ang pinakamagandang pagkakataon na masimulan ang reporma sa mga pampublikong transportasyon,” Angara said.

LTFRB chief Martin B. Delgra III earlier said the agency would continue to go after Uber and Grab drivers operating without Provisional Authority or Certificate of Public Convenience, despite online petitions and criticisms from netizens. /atm

READ: LTFRB stands firm vs Grab, Uber but clarifies services not suspended