Gov’t has no power to regulate us — Grab

The government has no authority over ride-hailing services. That’s the contention of Grab Philippines in the wake of exposés of two secret charges on riders.

The app-based ride provider admitted last week to doubling to P80 its authorized base fare of P40. It is separate from the discovery last April of a P2-perminute travel time charge.

Grab says the Dept. of Transportation in May 2015 empowered transport network companies (TNCs) to set their own rates. Such charges are subject to oversight by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, as stated jointly by DOTr and LTFRB then.

Aileen Lizada, one of three LTFRB commissioners, seems to agree. She says the 2015 order tends to tie their hands, so Congress must enact rules on newtechnology TNCs and their transport network vehicle services (TNVS) or partner-drivers.

Rep. Jericho Nograles, who unearthed Grab’s secret charges, pooh-poohs the alleged powerlessness. A Commonwealth Act and executive order grant LTFRB exclusive authority over land transport services.

From those laws LTFRB cracks down on overcharging and other breaches by jitney, taxi, and bus services, even “colorum” or unlicensed public transports. Last week Lizada reiterated she would go after jitney drivers overcharging P2 per passenger in certain routes. In the first months of 2018 she apprehended thousands of smoky, rickety jitneys.

The new LTFRB also has canceled the past administration’s May 2015 issuance, Nograles adds. Asserting its authority in December 2016, the agency itemized Grab’s allowable charges: base (or minimum) fare of P40, per-kilometer rate of P10 to P14 depending on ride and vehicle type, and surge rate of 1.5 to 2 times the travel distance fare during traffic. Aside from Lizada, LTFRB consists of Chairman Martin Delgra and Commissioner Ronaldo Corpus.

Nowhere does it state that Grab may double the P40-base fare to P80, and charge extra P2-per-minute, Nograles says. “Obviously a 2016 LTFRB order supersedes the 2015 order, and not the other way around,” he says. “Grab pretends that the later LTFRB ruling does not exist, and harps on an outdated order to justify its illegal fares.”

Before its additional P2-per-minute was exposed April, Grab’s website advertised that it didn’t charge travel time. Grab initially denied but later admitted the charge. It said it imposed the per-minute rate as far back as June 2017, and merely informed LTFRB during a technical workshop. It didn’t say which commissioner it talked to, if at all. With that admission, LTFRB suspended Grab’s unauthorized exactions.

Nograles asked LTFRB to make Grab refund P3.24 billion in illegal charges. LTFRB also fines franchisees P5,000 for every fare overcharging, and consequently cancels the franchise for repeated violations. That fine could reach P270 billion on 54 million rides from June 2017 to April 2018, Nograles computed from Grab’s claimed market share.

In the ensuing hearing that month Nograles bared that Grab’s app quotes ride-hailers P80-basic fare for distances less than 500 meters. Under oath, Grab country manager Brian Cu denied the P80. He said such ride requests are “absurd” to begin with, but Grab’s algorithm nonetheless auto-corrects to reflect the right fare.

Last Tuesday, however, Grab lawyers admitted to the P80 minimum fare, so please disregard Cu’s previous testimony. Cu, who was absent, supposedly was unfamiliar with the fare setting done from abroad, Nograles quotes them as saying.

“That is hi-tech swindling,” Nograles says of the company set up in Malaysia and registered in Singapore. He asks if a public utility like Grab will ever submit itself to LTFRB jurisdiction.

The doubling to P80 of the base fare for sedans and minivans is another cause for hundred-billion-peso refunds and fines, says Nograles, as he estimates Grab to be raking in P10 million a day. Grab monopolized Mega Manila, having bought out sole competitor, US-based Uber, last March. The Philippine Competition Commission says Grab’s service has deteriorated since then.

In the hearing Grab admitted to yet two more violations, Nograles says. It introduced a new Grab Premium service by classier vehicles, and charges a base fare of P125. Chairman Delgra ordered Grab to

submit all its contentions in five days, after which LTFRB will decide on the overcharges.

Lizada said they are still cleaning up the mess left behind by DOTr and LTFRB predecessors. (Corpus is a holdover from the old board.) Nograles has a bill on TNVS, which House of Reps committee on transportation chairman Cesar Sarmiento has yet to set for discussion.

Aside from the December 2016 fare setting, the present LTFRB has asserted its power over TNCs many other times, including:

• Fining Uber P190 million in August 2017 for over-recruiting driver-partners, in addition to a P5-million penalty for franchise breaches;

• Hearing in January 2018 Grab’s and Uber’s petitions for fare hikes, notably the former’s new P2.40-per-minute travel time rate, up to P5 more per-kilometer, and up to 2.5 times surge rate;

• Compelling Grab to attend the April and May hearings on the P2-per-minute; and

• Approving last May five new TNC franchisees for Mega Manila, all of which have yet to start operations. The UP Sigma Kappa Pi Fraternity and UP Barkada tournament kicks off at Valley Golf & Country Club on Thursday, June 7. Exciting prizes and giveaways await players, including a Vespa scooter for a hole-in-one. The scooter will be raffled away if no one wins it on the fairway. Registration starts 6:30 a.m.; shotgun tee-off at 8. For inquiries, call Lheng Gonzales, +63 936 0345048. The games are part of the run-up to the UP-EKIT’s 50th anniversary in Sept. 2018. Catch Sapol radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., DWIZ, (882-AM). Gotcha archives on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ Jarius-Bondoc/1376602159218459, or The STAR website https:// beta.philstar.com/columns/134276/gotcha