Micab, Taxi-Hailing app, submits application for TNC accreditation

There has been rumors that Grab will be looking to acquire Uber's operation in Southeast Asia. Micab took this opportunity to apply for TNC accreditation.

Micab looks to provide an alternative with the looming Uber-Grab merger

Micab is a taxi-hailing app that is looking to enter the Philippine market in light of the news of Grab's moves to acquire Uber's operation in the SEA region. This news has been swirling in a myriad of independent news outlet including The Independent, Vulcan Post and Nikkei Asian Review. If this happens, the Filipino commuters will be left with only one ride-hailing option. This, in turn, will monopolize the ride-hailing market.

Micab has other plans though. The taxi-hailing app from Cebu applied for official recognition from the LTFRB last January 18,2018. Since Micab uses taxis instead of private cars, LTFRB seeks to create a new classification TNC approriate for them.

Eddie Ybanez, Founder and CEO Micab, states this about the forward thinking regulation from the LTFRB:

Just as the entrance of a third teleco will benefit Filipino consumers, so, too, will this new category for TNCs. Competition, after all, is good. You want companies to fight for the right to earn your business. The newly created TNC category will open the door for more players to offer the best taxi-hailing solution, and I’m proud that micab will be one of the first to throw its hat into the race.

In 2012, Micab started as an SMS-based taxi solution which then eventually shifted into a mobile app interface for efficiency. Micab will be available in four markets initially including Cebu, Iloilo, Davao and Metro Manila. The app is available for download in the Google Playstore and the Apple App Store.

Ybanez believes that with the looming merge of Uber and Grab, Micab will help the commuters more than anyone by providing an alternative choice. He also stated this:

There are tens of thousands of taxis on the road, but it can often not feel like it when you’re standing in the street, futilely trying to flag down a cab. Filipino commuters deserve a more convenient way of hailing a taxi and taking one across the city. Micab is our attempt to provide this necessary solution to the Filipino public.

He also commended the LTFRB for their forward thinkign regulations:

Regulating new technology - when you have no existing framework for doing so - is never an easy feat. As a founder whose company is in the process of being regulated, I can only give my highest praise to the LTFRB and the work they are doing. It’s clear as day that they wish to enable the public to take the best commuting solutions available.

What do you think guys?