Quezon City Rep. Winnie Castelo called on the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to speed up the processing of applications for Grab licenses.
Castelo, chairman of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development, said the LTFRB’s slow and complicated process to register and accredit a Grab applicant is the root cause of colorum units in the company.
“If only LTFRB could fastrack the approval of the application by making the process simple and easier, there would be no colorum Grab vehicles today,” Castelo said.
“So the ball is now really with the LTFRB.”
Some 8,000 colorum Grab units are set to be deactivated by Grab Philippines on Monday to comply with LTFRB regulatiions.
The LTFRB has been strictly enforcing its regulation on illegal Grab services to regulate the online ride hailing industry.
Grab Philippines admitted the deactivation of the 8,000 units would severely affect the riding public but it has no other recourse except to follow the LTFRB.
“Public welfare is already at stake here. Let’s cut the bureaucracy in favor of jobs being retained.”
“So the ball is now really with the LTFRB,” Castelo said.
Earlier, the lawmaker urged the LTFRB to approve the pending applications of the 8,000 colorum units of Grab so they can continue serving the public.
“Public welfare is already at stake here. Let’s cut the bureaucracy in favor of jobs being retained, businesses continue, and people moved conveniently,” he added.