Metro Manila, Philippines – The transport regulator called on the sector to secure and display on their vehicles copies of the new fare guides to inform commuters.
Greg Pua Jr., Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board acting chairman, said they came across reports that some drivers are “afraid of charging their passengers additional fare because of the absence of the fare matrix.”
Pua said the temporary fare guides will suffice at the moment in place of a new fare matrix. He added that the guide is available for download on the official LTFRB website.
“Gusto po nating ipabatid sa ating mga kasamahang operator at driver na hindi po kailangan sa ngayon ang fare matrix upang maipatupad ang fare increase. Ang kailangan lang po ay fare guide na mabilis naman pong puwedeng i-download mula sa website ng LTFRB,” he said.
[Translation: We would like to inform our operators and drivers that they don’t need to have a fare matrix for now to implement the fare increase. What is needed is only a fare guide that can be easily downloaded from the LTFRB website.]
The 18 fare guides posted on the LTFRB website cover public utility buses, public utility jeepneys, taxis, transport network vehicle service (TNVS), and UV Express.
In a memo dated Sept. 25, Pua instructed the regional offices on implementing the fare hike that began on Monday, Sept. 28.
It stated that these offices may provide other appropriate means of distributing or releasing the fare guide or matrix to operators and drivers within their respective jurisdictions.
All fare guides and matrices downloaded from the website shall remain valid until Dec. 31.
Meanwhile, the issuance of the fare matrix reflecting the authorized fare rates will begin in January.
