The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) ends the free and discounted rides scheme for commuters.
Due to the low funding allocation for this year’s Service Contracting Program (SCP), there will be no more free or discounted rides for commuters, as announced by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) yesterday, November 30.
“The SCP will be unlike before when free rides are fully paid for. It will only be net contracting, based on guidance from the Department of Transportation and the LTFRB. This means qualified beneficiaries have a fare box, but they will be given incentives for every kilometer traveled,” LTFRB technical division chief, Jocal Bolano said as he also expressed the change is in ‘ongoing sense’.
As an alternative, an incentive program will be implemented for drivers and operators of public utility vehicles as the government held in reserve the funding of Php 699 million for the SCP this year, as stated by the LTFRB.
According to Bolano, policies for incentives and unit onboarding are being prepared for next week.
“We are bound by the Commission on Audit. We need to monitor every discount according to the COA. If you're a traditional jeepney, we don't have a way to monitor every ride, so we're still learning the process,” Bolano explained.
Given that the program's goal is to assist PUV operators and drivers, they must adhere to a number of rules, one of which is the availability of 80% of on-board vehicles. Participating vehicles must also log a certain amount of kilometers driven each day.
Bolano continued by saying that earlier plans to offer commuter discounts were not thought to be practical. He further stated that the SCP ought to be coordinated and have an agreement with local government entities under the 2023 General Appropriations Act.
Prior to the discontinuity of the commuter benefits, the government’s ‘Libreng Sakay’ initiative was also halted at the start of November this year and was planned to be replaced by the fare discounts which has now also been terminated.