Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 2) — Transportation authorities warned companies in the ride-hailing service market not to impose excessive fares after they received a report of overcharging against one player.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said it received a complaint against Joyride Ecommerce Technologies Corp. for charging ₱1,000 for a one-way ride due to the so-called “priority boarding fee.”
In a statement released Thursday morning, the agency said it had sent a letter dated May 24 to Joyride demanding it to explain why its accreditation as a transport network company (TNC) “should not be suspended and/or revoked within 10 days from receipt of the show cause order.”
Joyride Senior Vice President for Corporate Affairs Noli Eala denied the overcharging report.
“For clarity, a Priority Fee is an optional fee that customers can freely add to the total fare of the booking. It is an industry used term and practice in case a customer would like to tip or incentivize a driver-partner in advance,” Eala said in a statement.
The Joyride official said it already submitted a clarification to the transport regulator, stressing it is “compliant with the fare structure set by the LTFRB guidelines.”
Eala even said LTFRB’s latest statement to the media “comes as a complete surprise to us” as the company did not receive any decisions or findings from the agency.
The LTFRB then moved to cut out Joyride’s mention in a revised statement issued Thursday afternoon “so as not to single out JoyRide,” LTFRB Executive Director Maria Kristina Cassion said in a Viber message to members of the media.
“The agency saw it fit to already write all TNCs warning them against the imposition of excessive fare contrary to current guidelines on TNVS (transport network vehicles) fares,” the LTFRB said in its revised statement.
It added that LTFRB wrote warning letters to E-pick Me Up, Ipara, JoyRide, My Taxi PH (Grab), and Cloud Panda.
The agency said the fares for TNVS should be:
– ₱40.00 flagdown rate for sedan-type TNVS, with ₱15.00 fare per kilometer and ₱2.00 per minute travel fare
– ₱50.00 flagdown rate for premium AUV/SUV with ₱18.00 per kilometer fare and ₱2.00 per minute travel fare
– ₱30.00 flagdown rate for Hatchback or Sub-compact type with ₱13 per kilometer fare rate and ₱2.00 per minute travel fare
To check on the compliance of the TNCs and TNVS, the LTFRB said it would deploy “mystery riders in the next few days”.
“Any TNC and/or TNVS caught violating the terms and conditions of the MC shall be subject to fines and penalties,” it said.
