THE LAND Transportation and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) XI is awaiting the deputization authority from the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to penalize fare-contracting taxi drivers, a recurring concern of passengers, especially at the airport.
In an interview on Apr. 22, Nonito Llanos, LTFRB XI regional director pointed out that the action serves as a third warning to operators and drivers.
“We are just awaiting our deputization order from the LTO so that we can penalize the drivers because some of the drivers take advantage of the fact that the LTFRB can only penalize operators, but if our deputization order comes out from the LTO we will make sure to penalize these drivers,” Llanos said.
According to Llanos, their office had been monitoring the airport and participating in operations against erring taxi operators, even before the latest claims of taxis contracting or charging a fixed rate at the airport.
He said the LTFRB will soon have the authority to sanction drivers as well as operators, to help with enforcement.
“Now and then we visit the airport to address this concern and even before, not only at the enforcement level, last February we also sat down with the operators and we also reminded them that they should guide their drivers not to commit these violations,” he said.
He said they are working closely with the LTO XI, the City Transport and Traffic Management Office, and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to further seek institutionalized solutions against the issues of contracting passengers and overcharging.
They also met with the Regional Taxi Operators Association in Davao to discuss the best course of action for the said problem.
“At the same time we are asking the public’s help in reporting erring drivers,” he added.
Based on the latest decision issued by the LTFRB XI Central Office, for the offense of contracting passengers, taxi operators may face a penalty of P5,000 fine for first offense, P10,000 with impoundment for 30 days for the second offense, and P15,000 fine with the impounding of the unit and the cancellation of the franchise for the third offense.
Meanwhile, Councilor Al Ryan Alejandre had also requested the attendance of LTFRB XI and CAAP on the May 7 regular session to shed light on the said concerns.
In his Facebook post two days ago, Mayor Sebastian Duterte warned taxi cab drivers against demanding fixed and exorbitant fares from their passengers.
The mayor said taxi drivers who continue to engage in fare contracting, particularly at the airport, will face the consequences. He said they already issued warnings, and further violations would be met with stricter enforcement actions.
