Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 6) — Transportation authorities have dropped the certificate of conformity (COC) as a requirement in securing a vehicle franchise, a move seen to fill in faster thousands of transport network vehicle services (TNVS) slots.
TNVS CommUNITY representative and TNVS Alliance PH chairperson Aylene Paguio welcomed the “favorable” development, saying fewer requirements for applicants would mean more jobs for Filipinos.
This would also translate to reliable services for the riding public, she added.
The TNVS CommUNITY is composed of several of the largest TNVS organizations in the country, such as TNVS Alliance PH, Transport Vehicle Representatives, TNVS Community Council Leaders, TNVS Individual 1 Alliance, Unity of Leaders for TNVS Community, the Philippine Metropolitan Transport Group, and the TNVS News Community.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said over the weekend that Board Resolution No. 05 series of 2023 removes the COC as part of the government’s push for ease of doing business.
Drivers or operators wanting to secure a franchise from the LTFRB need to submit a COC from a mortgage bank or financial institution if the unit is encumbered.
The LTFRB said the decision to relax the franchise requirement was reached after its “careful evaluation,” which found that requiring a COC was seen as a “frequent cause of delay or dismissal of applications.”
“In the spirit of R.A. 11032, which was enacted to help simplify and streamline requirements to reduce red tape in business transactions in government, we hope that removing the COC requirement in a vehicle franchise application will help ease the burden among the transacting public and give them more convenience in securing that much-needed vehicle franchise,” LTFRB Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III said in a statement.
The LTFRB earlier opened 100,000 TNVS slots for Grab Philippines following its investment pledge to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
However, the company said there was a need to ease requirements to speed up the onboarding process.
READ: Thousands of available TNVS slots futile if gov’t fails to ease processes — Grab
