LTFRB lifts Uber suspension

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) yesterday lifted the month-long suspension on Uber Systems Inc. after it shelled out P489.2 million in penalties, including a P190-million fine, to the government and financial assistance to its peer operators.

Uber paid the P190-million fine in exchange for the lifting of its suspension, which the LTFRB issued on Aug. 14.

The LTFRB based the amount on the daily earnings of Uber, which the ridesharing service said ranges from P7 million to P10 million through 150,000 trips a day, and multiplied by the remaining 19 days it is supposed to be suspended.

In a two-page order, the LTFRB lifted the suspension order on the transport network company after it complied with the conditions set by the government.

“Wherefore, in view of the submission of proof submitted by USI, the one month suspension on the accreditation of the USI by virtue of the order dated 14 August 2017 is hereby lifted and set aside, subject to verification of actual receipt by the TNVS (transport network vehicle service) peer-operators due to each of them,” the order read.

Uber representatives paid the fine at the LTFRB central office in Quezon City at past 1 p.m. The amount will be remitted to the national treasury, said LTFRB board member and spokesperson Aileen Lizada.

Uber also submitted copies of documents showing it has extended P299,244,000 in financial assistance to its 36,367 peer-operators affected by the suspension order from Aug. 15 to 29.

Among the documents is the bank transaction activity issued by Wells Fargo showing financial assistance to Uber’s affected partners.

It means Uber spent P489.2 million to resume its operations.

“Hopefully, Uber will learn from this experience,” Lizada said in a press conference yesterday afternoon.

Before the announcement, Lizada conducted a random sampling of the TNVS peer-operators from Metro Manila and Cebu to determine if they received financial assistance. She said there were only minor discrepancies attributed to banking fees in the transfer of money.

Uber announced it has resumed its services as of 5 p.m. yesterday and will be fully operational in the coming days.

“We are grateful for all the support of riders and drivers of the past few weeks,” Uber said in a statement posted on Twitter.

The LTFRB is hoping Uber will not pass the financial losses it incurred to the riding public.

Lizada said they will raise this concern in a technical working group meeting with Uber set at around 2 p.m. today.

“We do not want them to pass it on to the consumers, to the riding public. But that is a concern of integrity,” she said.