In compliance with the instruction of Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Vince Dizon, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has extended the deadline for the application for regularization of ride-hailing service partners who are under the so-called “tempo” status.
The online application for “tempo” Transport Network Vehicle Service (TNVS) started on October 8 and will run for 30 working days but this early, Acting LTFRB Chairman Greg G. Pua, Jr. said they already extended the application period for another 30 days in line with the instruction of Secretary Dizon to make sure that no one would be left behind in the government’s effort to provide decent source of income for those in the public transportation sector.
The LTFRB intends to enlist thousands of TNVS partners following the discrepancy that the agency discovered in the platforms of some Transport Network Companies (TNCs) via the ‘tempo” modus.
“Tempo” is known in the transport community, especially in TNVS, as a practice of the Transport Network Companies (TNCs) of onboarding TNVS units on their digital platforms without the units having obtained the requisite authority from the LTFRB.
The practice violates the rules and regulations of the LTFRB as it provides access to TNVS units to offer transport services to the riding public despite the absence of a valid authority.
“Our regularization move is aimed at helping thousands of TNVS drivers whose only fault was that they relied in good faith on their onboarding and assumed substantial financial commitments in the process,” said Acting Chairman Pua.
He said this is in line with the instruction of President Ferdinand “Bongbong R. Marcos, Jr. to implement fair rules and regulations to ensure that the welfare of the public transport sector is also attended to.
Based on the latest data, the LTFRB has so far received a total of 13,216 applications and Acting Chairman Pua said a total of 5,091 of them were already issued to the Provisional Authority, or PA.
He said the agency is now fast tracking the processing of all the applications.
But Acting Chairman Pua urged applicants to ensure that all the necessary documents are ready and properly uploaded as a way of assisting the agency in expediting the regularization process.
“We ask our partners in the TNVS community who are applying for the regularization to follow the process of the application. The requirements are intended to prevent application cancellations due to some challenges that include questions on vehicle ownership,” he said.
Earlier, the LTFRB noted some challenges in the franchise online application system, which prompted Acting Chairman Pua to initiate additional measures to make the entire process easier for the applicants.
He said the LTFRB will continue to monitor the progress of the application process, with the end goal of regularizing as many “tempo” TNVS.
Acting Chairman Pua also assured applicants who are having a hard time to comply to visit and seek assistance from the LTFRB, as he noted that the agency is ready to provide assistance.
