MMDA to defer apprehension of drivers without fare matrices

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) yesterday said drivers of passenger buses and jeepneys are given a five-day reprieve from possible apprehension after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) extended the processing of their fare matrices until June 18.

Drivers without the fare matrix posted inside their vehicles to guide passengers on new transportation rates cannot impose the fare hike.

MMDA Executive Director Angelito Vergel de Dios, of the MMDA-Traffic Operations Center, said in the agency’s morning program yesterday that they are still waiting for LTFRB Chairman Maria Elena Bautista to give the "go signal" for them to arrest drivers who will be found violating the rule.

Yesterday was the last day of payment for the new fare matrix for public utility vehicles but hundreds of drivers have yet to process their fare matrices. The drivers trooped to the LTFRB office in Quezon City yesterday and the queue started at the LTFRB’s parking lot and reached as far as East Avenue.

Bautista said the fare matrix would serve as a deterrent against drivers who ply the streets without a franchise.

"Each of them should have an original copy of the matrix and post it inside the jeepney. It would be better of they laminate it to prevent it from being tarnished," Bautista said.

First-time offenders would pay a penalty of P500 and P1,000 for the first and second offense, respectively. If caught for the third time violating the rule, the vehicle’s franchise will be canceled.

Vergel de Dios said the rule applies not only to bus and jeepney drivers but to drivers of all kinds of public utility vehicles. They may also be apprehended if found overcharging passengers.