PH ride-sharing industry needs help, Grab urges LTFRB to increase cap on TNVS units
Given the unreliable service of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3) and the unending traffic not only in EDSA but also across Manila, Filipinos have embraced ride-sharing firms, like Grab, to make commute bearable.
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| PH ride-sharing industry needs help |
However, riders have been experiencing difficulty in booking after Grab purchased Uber's Southeast Asia operations late in March.
But is the acquisition really the reason?
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| Situation of Grab in PH |
Or the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board's (LTFRB) move to set cap for transportation network vehicle services (TNVS) applications from the previous 125,000 cars in January to only 66,750 units now?
Grab has long explained that after it bought Uber, the number of active cars available decreased from 43,000 to just 35,000.
Even though it wanted to embrace all Uber drivers to its platform, Grab failed to do so due to LTRFB's masterlist of TNVS drivers, it said in its website. In the masterlist, 6,000 cars are not included.
As per regulation, we cannot onboard them unless they are on this list.
So, with only over 30, 000 drivers, would this figure be enough to meet the 600,000 bookings everyday?
Brian Cu, country head of Grab Philippines, said:
The Philippine market, despite being the first country to legalize ride-sharing in Asia last 2015, is facing a big set-back because of the supply crisis. We are only able to allocate 4 out of 10 bookings, which is the lowest allocation rate in Southeast Asia.
He said the Singapore-based, together with other transport network companies (TNCs), has been urging the agency to "solve the supply crisis" and open the 10, 000 slots to address the increasing demand of riders. Earlier this year, Cu said 75,000 cars should be a decent cap for TNVS.
They should immediately prioritize adding more drivers to support the demand.
We hope to see better cooperation between the LTFRB and TNCs as everyone just wants to offer improved services!
Are you a Grab rider? What are your thoughts on this?
Let's hear them!
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