Maxim, Indriver operate illegally in Cebu: LTFRB

CEBU CITY - The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) in Central Visayas is monitoring Maxim, a Russian ride-hailing application that is illegally operating in Cebu.

Eduardo Montealto Jr., LTFRB regional director, said that Maxim has not been accredited nor given a permit by the agency and yet continues to operate here. He said there are many unaccredited transport network vehicle service operating in Cebu and using apps that are not registered with the LTFRB.

He said two cars had been apprehended by the Highway Patrol

Group and LTFRB for using Maxim and last month, six more cars were also intercepted by authorities for illegally operating using indriver ride-hailing app. Owners of the vehicles face a hefty fine from P120,000 to P200,000 for operating without a franchise.

Maxim is an international service for ordering a car via the app, website or call center. The service provides informational services — it generates a database for transportation orders and grants the independent carriers online access to it. Since 2014, the service has launched its operations in neighboring countries and beyond. It has been providing its services in the Republic of Belarus since 2017.

While indriver is also an international ride-hailing service headquartered in Mountain View, California. The company’s chief innovation is its p2p-based RTD (Real Time Deals) model: riders enter their destination on the indriver app, and put the price they are willing to pay for a trip. Then this ride request goes to nearby indriver drivers who can either accept the offer, decline it or send a counteroffer if the driver would like to get a higher fare. The service was founded in 2013 in the Russian port city of Yakutsk. (John Rey Saavedra. With additional report from Cebu Examiner.)