Uber riders will have to wait another week to find out whether the ride-sharing company can resume operations sooner than the monthlong suspension imposed by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) for violating its order.
The LTFRB on Wednesday gave Uber a chance to file another petition seeking to convert its suspension into a hefty fine after senators tried to broker an agreement between the two parties to ease the woes of聽 commuters.
Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public services, emerged from a three-hour closed-door meeting, saying she hoped the suspension would be lifted by next week when the LTFRB would have decided Uber鈥檚 new pleading in a special board meeting on Wednesday.
Slow decision process
But Poe also expressed disappointment with the slow process in settling the matter, noting that the LTFRB still had to go over and decide Uber鈥檚 new pleading.
鈥淲e are quite happy with the outcome of the meeting because we believe that this will be resolved and that the suspension period will be shorter,鈥� she told reporters. 鈥淏ut we are also quite sad because it鈥檚 the process that slows down the resolution of this issue.鈥�
Poe said she hoped the agency would make a decision with the welfare of thousands of commuters in the capital as its priority.
She noted that Uber was 鈥済enerous鈥� in its efforts to rectify its offenses. 鈥淭hey accepted their wrongdoing and promised to give the LTFRB all the data it needed.鈥�
Drivers鈥� compensation
She added that Uber promised to compensate all drivers affected by the suspension and to pay the LTFRB a fine 鈥渕ultiple times鈥� higher than the P5 million it paid for earlier offenses.
鈥淲hat I鈥檓 saying is, they are following the law, but I鈥檓 sorry to say that it is our regulation that is making it slower,鈥� Poe said.
Earlier, senators decried the LTFRB decision, saying it was the commuters who were taking the brunt of the blanket suspension imposed on Uber.
They urged the agency to convert the suspension into appropriate administrative fines to stop further aggravating commuters鈥� woes.
New pleadings
鈥淲e suggested to the LTFRB during the hearing to make the penalty in the form of a fine rather than stopping Uber鈥檚 operation just like how most regulatory bodies fine companies that have public interest,鈥� Sen. Bam Aquino said.
Aquino, who was also present during the meeting, said the board agreed to hear Uber鈥檚 new pleadings next Wednesday.
Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito, vice chair of the committee on public services, said he also pushed for cutting short the suspension and for imposing a higher monetary penalty on Uber.
At the meeting, Sen. Risa Hontiveros asked the agency to stop its 鈥渟elective crackdown just to prove a point鈥� and review its suspension order.
鈥淐ommuters are taking the brunt of this punishment, which is unfair,鈥� she said. 鈥淎re you cracking down on abusive taxi drivers and colorum units as much as you are hell-bent on cracking down on Uber and other TNVS (transport network vehicle services) providers?鈥� she asked the LTFRB.