AS THE fare hike approved by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) for public utility vehicles (PUVs) will take effect on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 reminds PUV drivers and operators to secure first their copy of the new fare matrix before implementing the fare increase.
LTFRB 7 Director Eduardo Montealto Jr. encouraged passengers to check if the driver or operator has posted the new fare matrix inside their PUVs.
Without the new fare matrix, drivers cannot collect the new fare, he said.
For his part, DOTr Secretary Jaime Bautista has asked for the understanding of the public, saying that the fare hike is already long overdue.
“Napaka-liit ng kinikita nila dahil presyo ng gasolina, maintenance. Dahil may inflation, kailangan din natin ng increase ng pamasahe. Matagal na sila nanghihingi pero dahil nagkaroon ng pandemya, hindi natin binigyan ng increase para hindi mahirapan mga pasahero,” he said in a recent press conference in Manila.
(They earn very little because of the price of fuel, [cost of] maintenance. Because there is inflation, we also need an increase in fares. They have been asking for it for a long time, but because of the pandemic, we did not grant an increase so that passengers would not suffer,” he said.)
Bautista said they will beef up their monitoring to ensure that drivers and operators follow the guidelines.
Release of fare matrix
Montealto told SunStar Cebu on Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022, that their office will start releasing the fare matrix on Monday, Oct. 3.
According to Montealto, some PUV drivers and operators will not immediately get a copy of the fare matrix. Some might have to wait a week to get one, he said.
He said drivers who insist on collecting increased fares but do not have a copy of the fare matrix can be apprehended and face a fine of P5,000 for the first offense.
Aside from the plate number of the vehicle, the fare matrix will contain a security feature in the form of a hologram to make sure it won’t be duplicated and posted in other PUV units, he said.
Meanwhile, Montealto said the driver or operator will have to present the franchise of the PUV upon claiming the fare matrix.
The application fee for the fare matrix for the first two units of a PUJ operator is P520. The fee for the third and succeeding units is P70 each.
On Oct. 3, jeepney passengers will need to pay the new minimum fare of P12 from the current
P11 and an additional P.30 for every kilometer.
For modern jeepneys, the current P13 minimum will be raised to P14 plus P2.20 per additional kilometer from the current P1.80.
The new taxi flag-down rate will be P45 from P40. There is no increase for succeeding kilometers.
Montealto said there are around 16,000 PUVs operating in Central Visayas. (IRT, TPM / SunStar Philippines)