Revilla files bill to stop abusive cabbies

Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. is seeking to penalize and impose high fines for taxi drivers who “hold up” passengers by not giving the exact change or demanding a certain amount for them to convey the commuters.

Revilla filed Senate Bill 1691 or the “Exact Fare Act” in time for the Christmas season when taxis are in demand.

“Whatever the fare as registered in the taxi meter, there are taxi drivers who automatically round off the amount. We can call it a subtle holdup. If a passenger asks for his exact change, the common answer is that they do not have enough coins or this is their first trip. We have to act against this racket,” Revilla said.

Under the Road Courtesy Guidelines of the Land Transportation Office, taxi units found with unflagged taxi meters or operating on contractual basis shall be charged P150.

Taxi drivers who refuse to render service to the public can be fined P375 while those who refuse to convey a passenger to his destination can be meted a P500 fine. The taxi driver and operator will have a separate fine of P1,000 each.

In filing the bill, Revilla said it was a state policy to protect the interest of the passengers, promote their general welfare and establish standards of conduct for the transportation industry.

“Several laws and ordinances were enacted to uphold the safety of the commuters to and from their places of destination. But we do not have a law that specifically addresses change-keeping of taxi drivers,” the lawmaker said.

Under SB 1691, the victimized taxi passenger should file a complaint with Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) not later than five days after the violation is committed. The DOTC should, in not more than 10 working days after the receipt of the complaint, issue a notice and conduct an investigation to the concerned driver and operator.

The violator shall be fined P1,000 for the first offense and P2,000 for the second offense.

For the third offense, the violator shall be fined P5,000 and suspended from driving a public utility vehicle (PUV) for a period of not less than one month but not more than six months.

For subsequent violations, the driver shall be suspended for one to two years and the operator’s license to operate shall be suspended for the same period.

Under the bill, the taxi driver shall be principally liable. However, in case of insolvency, the operator’s subsidiary liability will be enforced.

“If there are 5,000 more or less cabbies in Metro Manila doing this wicked practice to each passenger they pick up, thousands of commuters are being shortchanged everyday,” Revilla said.