TNVS deemed as the new MSMEs

Just as Grab and Uber recently reached a compromise with the country's transport regulator to continue operating, the Department of Trade and Industry in Cebu has noted a surge in business name registrations to Grab and Uber drivers.

Zaide Bation, business regulation head at DTI-Cebu, said yesterday most of the business name applicants at DTI office recently are drivers of Uber and Grab, who have been required by authorities to register as a business.

"There is a surge. It seems like the new MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) are in transport," she told The FREEMAN.

She said ride-sharing services such as Uber and Grab have created "part-time businessmen as well as fulltime ones."

"[These] give them alternative modes of income," he said.

In the first half of 2017, the DTI-Cebu registered a total of 9,288 business names, up by 18 percent from 7,878 in the same period last year.

Last Wednesday, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) allowed ride-sharing services Grab and Uber to appeal their alleged colorum violations.

However, the agency's apprehension order stays against the firms' unregistered vehicles. Representatives from LTFRB and the two transportation network vehicle services (TNVS) earlier met and reached a compromise.

In an earlier statement, Sen. JV Ejercito, vice chair of the Senate Committee on Public Services, said that after the meeting, the LTFRB said they will just wait for Grab and Uber to file for a Motion for Reconsideration, which in effect would legally suspend and extend the execution of LTFRB’s July 11 order.

In the said order, the LTFRB had warned that it would apprehend "colorum" Grab and Uber cars starting July 26, citing as many as 50,000 unlicensed units.

However, this LTFRB order had earned heavy criticism from the public, particularly users of these ride-sharing services, criticizing instead the poor services of regular metered taxis and other unreliable modes of public transport like jeepneys.

The compromise would allow unregistered Grab and Uber cars to continue operating until the appeal is resolved.

LTFRB earlier fined Uber and Grab P5 million each for allegedly accepting new drivers even after it suspended applications of new permits last year.

The Philippines was the first country in the world to regulate ride-sharing services. — Carlo S. Lorenciana

DTI-Cebu noted a surged in business name applicants coming from TNVS operators and drivers, who have been required by authorities to register as a business.