00:00It's possible that in December, the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board, or LTFRB,
00:07will receive a surge fee from the Transport Network Vehicle Service.
00:11However, some TNVS drivers are getting high because of the surge fee.
00:15They are only getting their income back.
00:17Joseph Moro has the first news.
00:23For these students, it's good to take a TNVS taxi to save on the fare.
00:29It's a good way to save money.
00:30Sometimes, there are codes.
00:32If there are a lot of us, we have to split the fare.
00:37But motorcycle taxis are cheaper.
00:40Motorbikes go straight.
00:41In this time, aside from the traffic,
00:43the surge fee from TNVS drivers is increasing.
00:47If there are a lot of people who want to ride,
00:49but there are not enough taxis on the road,
00:50the surge fee can reach up to two times.
00:54The flag down rate of TNVS drivers
00:56is not known by the LTFRB
00:58because it follows the TNVS
01:04based on Memorandum Circular No. 2019-036.
01:08It also follows the fare per kilometer and per minute
01:12and the surge fee which is twice the combined rate
01:15of fare per kilometer and minute of travel.
01:17The LTFRB said that they can compensate
01:20for the fare per kilometer and surge fee.
01:23The LTFRB has made a decision
01:26in a complaint to the transport network company, Grab,
01:28that the surge rate is almost twice as high,
01:31especially during Christmas,
01:33when it is difficult to ride taxis.
01:36The LTFRB wants to know
01:38if it really follows the surge rate
01:40whenever there is traffic or high demand.
01:43For them, it's like a blanket authority
01:46that they can impose it whenever there is traffic
01:51or there is a shortage in the TNVS in the market.
01:57To us, it should be more than that.
02:00Not because there is traffic,
02:02but because there is a surge fee.
02:04There are consumer groups
02:06that estimate that the surge fee
02:08is half or 50 percent lower,
02:10but the LTFRB says it's still high.
02:13The TNVS Community Philippines,
02:16a group of about 20,000,
02:18is the driver of TNVS
02:19if there is a surge rate.
02:21They are only compensating
02:23because their income is also affected by the traffic.
02:26It's a holiday season right now.
02:28There's a lot of traffic.
02:30It's not like when you park like a taxi.
02:32When you park,
02:34there's a lot of traffic.
02:36There are times when there's four kilometers.
02:39There are times when there's three kilometers
02:41to the pick-up.
02:43It's not just that.
02:45When you go there, there's already traffic.
02:47There's always a surge fee.
02:49It's just that there's a lot of traffic.
02:51When you go to the pick-up,
02:53you can already see the massage.
02:55It's your choice
02:57if you want to join or not.
02:59Let's end December
03:01and talk about dialogue.
03:03According to the LTFRB,
03:05they can make a decision this December.
03:07They also need to talk
03:09to other TNVS
03:11aside from Grab,
03:13which is affected by the decision.
03:15We asked for Grab's statement
03:17to the LTFRB,
03:19but they don't have a direct answer.
03:21They said in one statement,
03:23they will continue to monitor
03:25if they have a fair price
03:27so that their driver partners
03:29can make a decent income.
03:31In this way,
03:33they hope that more drivers
03:35will travel quietly
03:37to serve the passengers.
03:39For those who are hoping
03:41that they can save
03:43their income,
03:45they can make a decision
03:47in the second week of January.
03:49This is the first news.
03:51Joseph Morong for GMA Integrated News.
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