Philippines to Open Motorcycle Taxi Platform Accreditation on August 5

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) announced on Thursday that accreditation for motorcycle taxi platform providers (MTPPs) will begin on August 5. Applications for a Provisional Authority to Operate as a Motorcycle Taxi Rider will also resume on the same date, the LTFRB added. However, the LTFRB said the accreditation of MTPPs and the granting of Provisional Authority to motorcycle taxi riders will depend on the rider caps allocated by the Motorcycle Taxi Technical Working Group for each MTPP. It added that no new players will be accepted, as available slots are limited to providers that have already been given the go signal by the Technical Working Group. "We have implemented measures not only to ensure that the process will be smooth and convenient for the motorcycle taxi community but also to achieve our main goal of coming up with an orderly and systematic way of public transportation," LTFRB Chairperson Vigor Mendoza said in a statement. In May, the LTFRB issued show-cause orders against nine MTPPs as part of its ongoing probe into discrepancies in the number of authorized ride-hailing services. This brings to 30 the total number of ride-hailing companies under investigation for allegedly allowing the illegal onboarding of transport network vehicle services and motorcycle taxis on their online platforms. —VBL, GMA News