Insurance scheme for PUVs ordered stopped

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) suspended yesterday the implementation of new insurance regulations for public utility vehicles (PUVs) amid complaints that an insurance firm was monopolizing the business.

LTFRB chairman Dante Lantin said the insurance requirement would be re-implemented on Feb. 29 after the snags in the program have been properly addressed.

Lantin issued Memorandum Circular No. 2000-001, effecting the suspension. The new insurance policy provides that buses and mini-buses be covered by P1,250,000 in insurance for deaths resulting from accidents and P312,500,000 in medical benefits.

For passenger jeepneys, the minimum coverage for death benefits is P500,000 and P125,000 for medical expenses.

The old system required only P40,000 insurance regardless of the type of vehicles.

Lantin denied allegations of different PUV operators that the board had accredited the Passengers' Accident Managers Inc. (PAMI) to solely provide insurance to all applicants for franchise.

He noted there are other firms authorized to do the job. "In the first place, it is the Insurance Commission that is empowered by law to do that (accreditation)."

But Efren de Luna, president of the Philippine Confederation of Drivers Organizations-Alliance of concerned Transport Operators (PCDO-ACTO), insisted that LTFRB personnel instruct operators to get insurance coverage only from PAMI.

"When you apply for franchise, you will be told to approach PAMI for insurance. Otherwise, your application will not be honored," he added.

De Luna also revealed that PAMI had been circulating written announcements at the LTFRB office on East Avenue, Quezon City that they are the only insurance firm accredited to transact business with the Board. This reporter, pretending to be an operator of a jeepney, called the PAMI office to confirm De Luna's allegation. One Lucille Gatchalian, who identified herself as a PAMI employee, claimed PAMI, indeed, was the only one accredited.

In response to De Luna's complaints, Lantin asked PAMI president Eduardo Atayde yesterday to explain the alleged misrepresentation being made by his company.