LTFRB urges ride-sharing commuters: Report overcharging

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is asking the riding public to report overcharging by mobile ride-sharing services.

LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra said the board met with some transport network companies (TNCs) yesterday regarding the issue.

“We have yet to conclude. I don’t want to say na wala (there are no incidents). We are appealing to the public documented reports of overcharging vis a vis the structure of the LTFRB,” he said in a briefing.

Complaints regarding alleged overcharging have been hounding the sector, especially Grab, this holiday season.

Grab denied that it was overcharging its commuters, saying they were well within the 2x surge cap set by the LTFRB and that it followed the fare structure set by the board.

Data provided by Grab showed that they have been receiving three million total bookings per day or around 750,000 unique bookings but only 36,000 cars on the road at any given time.

Delgra said extraneous factors, especially involving traffic and the driver’s discretion on when to go online, affect the supply.

Delgra said that they will also sit down with the Philippine Competition Commission as it recently fined Grab over P16-million for “extraordinary deviation on its pricing commitment.”