MANILA, Philippines鈥揟he Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will be conducting a workshop to finalize regulations regarding online-enabled transportation services such as Uber, GrabTaxi and EasyTaxi.
In an advertisement published in newspapers on Friday, LTFRB Chair Winston Ginez announced that the workshop to be held on Wednesday afternoon at the main office in Quezon City to finalize rules and regulations covering what the board had called 鈥淭ransportation Network Companies鈥� (TNCs).
These firms rely on mobile applications to connect passengers with drivers of private vehicles in the case of Uber and franchised taxi services in the case of GrabTaxi and EasyTaxi.
During the workshop, policies would be drafted defining TNCs as a new mode of public land transportation service. It would tackle rules on TNC accreditation and the issuance of certificates of public convenience for vehicles operating under the scheme.
Last year, Uber came under fire after taxi operators complained that it was offering illegal taxi services as it did not have a franchise. This prompted the LTFRB to arrest an Uber partner-driver in October for operating a 鈥渃olorum鈥� vehicle.
In November, the LTFRB held a public hearing on whether Uber and similar 鈥渙nline-enabled transportation services鈥� should fall under government supervision.
At the hearing, Uber鈥檚 lawyer, Donemark Calimon of the Quisumbing Torres law firm, insisted that Uber was simply a 鈥渢echnology platform,鈥� engaged in 鈥減rivate contracts of carriage鈥� not covered by current LTFRB regulations.
Calimon said that whether Uber鈥檚 partner vehicles should secure a franchise was still 鈥渁 legal question鈥� and that they 鈥渨ould comply with appropriate regulations鈥� once these were laid out.