DAVAO'S homegrown taxi-hailing application, HirNa, has started its go-live launch on Tuesday, July 24, as it’s now ready to serve the riding public in cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.
HirNa, unlike other apps, offers zero booking fee, and promising a "reliable, safe and affordable" hailing service.
"We are really excited to improve the quality of lives of the commuters to more key cities in Mindanao. Given these launches, our vision of uplifting the Pinoy's taxi ride experience continues to be realized," Francisco Mauricio, HirNa president and CEO, said.
Mauricio assured the public, especially the passengers, of their safety, saying that HirNa can blacklist unruly drivers.
"Kung may masamang mangayari (If something bad happens), hopefully not, in Cagayan de Oro, that driver would be blacklisted all over the Philippines where Hirna is present. So that's just one factor in terms of safety," Mauricio said.
Association of United Taxi Operators (AUTO) President Dodong Clemenia, for his part, also guaranteed that there are no unruly drivers under the organization.
"Talagang pinagbabawal sa mga driver namin yung paikot-ikot, lalo na ngayon na meron na tayong pay rate increase (Drivers who whirl about just to up their rate are prohibited, especially now that we have an increase in the pay rate). So we can guarantee you na wala na yung ganyang klaseng driver na pinapaikot-ikot yung sasakyan para lang tumaas yung rate (that there are no more drivers like that)," Clemenia said.
AUTO-CDO Vice President Gloria Corrales added that they have warned their drivers to be careful and suspend them if they make mistakes.
"Kami na mga operator ay talagang takot sa LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board) dahil (We, the operators, are afraid of the LTFRB since there's a) P5,000 yung penalty per offense. kaya we always warn our drivers to be careful and always brief them and even suspend them if they make mistakes," Corrales said.
LTFRB-Northern Mindanao, for their part, said they have drivers academy seminars conducted for drivers before getting hired, adding that operators are not allowed to hire drivers who did not undergo the seminar.
"Before nila i-hire po yun, dapat naka seminar po sa amin. During the seminar, ini-inform namin lahat ng mga drivers na para maging mabait sa mga pasahero nila. Be polite, be kind to them because service kasi binibigay nila," Tom Diamla, inspector and in-charge on the taxis in Northern Mindanao, said.
HirNa, according to Mauricio, also provides passengers features to ensure safety and convenience such as the Track My Ride function, Driver and Vehicle Rating System, In-app Messaging, Push banner Alerts, among others.
"We're the only ride-hailing app in the Philippines right now that has a vehicle rating system. So ngayon, matutulungan namin yung mga operators make sure na laging malinis, mabango at neat yung mga sasakyan (Now we can help the operators in making sure that the vehicles are always clean, scented and neat)," the HirNa president said.
He added that they also do driver analytics, in which drivers who are unruly, who do not show up or who ignore passengers are recorded in their database.
"This kind of data analytics and information that we get from both the passengers and from our own internal system, makes ride-hailing or taxi-riding really, really safe. So that's the power, working together with the operators and the drivers to make sure we bring taxi service to a whole new level," Mauricio said.
HirNa, Mauricio said, can also blacklist passengers who are "no shows" and those who robs drivers, which already happened in Manila.
"We can track both drivers and passengers. So it’s both ways: passengers are safe, drivers are safe," he said.
The HirNa app is available and can be downloaded from both iOS App Store and Google Playstore for Android phones.