THE CITY Transport and Traffic Management Office (CTTMO) launched a campaign against erring taxi drivers on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
CTTMO led the “Stickers Against Erring Drivers” campaign, along with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board XI at the City Hall grounds on Sept. 24.
CTTMO chief Dionisio Abude said the taxi stickers will remind the taxi drivers to use their taxi meters during operations.
“This will also help the commuting public to file or call for their complaints in overcharging, contracting, refusal to convey passengers, and undesirable behavior of drivers,” Abude said.
The stickers contain the words: “Madayaw! You are riding a METERED TAXI. For complaints, please report the taxi name, name of driver, and taxi plate number to Davao City Reports.”
Also written on the stickers are hotline numbers, the email address, and the Facebook page of Davao City Reports.
The drivers were instructed to put the sticker one in the dashboard and one fronting the passenger seat. Refusal to display the sticker will warrant a fine.
Abude said they are yet to identify the amount of the fine for violators as they still have to convene with the other agencies, but they are eyeing to tailor it with the violation of the failure to display PUV ID.
“Once we complete distributing the stickers to every taxi unit, we will start the inspection as soon as possible,” he said.
The monitoring of compliance of taxi units will start before December this year. Earlier, they reproduced around 6,000 stickers and distributed them to taxi drivers around the City Hall.
In case the drivers lose the sticker, they are advised to visit the CTTMO Office for a copy.
In May, the Regional Taxi Operators Association of Davao requested the 20th City Council to intensify measures in screening taxi drivers following the recurring complaints against them for contracting fixed-rate fares.
This, following the creation of a set of guidelines by various agencies to end circumstances where tourists fell victim to the bad practices of drivers.
The guidelines include queuing at the designated holding area after receiving queue cards from the guard-on-duty; using the right lane and submitting to security inspections; staying inside their taxi units while queuing and only disembarking to help load the luggage of passengers; prohibition of negotiation of prices with passengers; wearing of uniform and proper grooming; and unloading of passengers at the designated unloading areas.
An airport personnel will hand out complaint stubs to passengers upon boarding the taxi which will be checked at the exit.
Also under the guidelines, the LTFRB XI emphasized there is no pakyaw system (fixed rate) for the riding public and that drivers should use the meter.
