LTFRB: Permits of PUV operators who fail to consolidate revoked effective Jan. 1, 2024

The permits to operate of public utility vehicle (PUV) operators who failed to consolidate their operations into a single entity or at least applied for consolidation on or before December 31, 2023 shall be revoked starting next year.

READ: LTFRB memorandum circular which states that the permit to operate of individual public utility vehicle (PUV) operators who fail to consolidate with other operators will be revoked come January 1, 2024. pic.twitter.com/JHuLYfIeiI

— Ted Cordero (@Ted_Cordero) December 15, 2023

This after the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) issued Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 2023-51, “Allowing Operations of Consolidated Transport Service Entities in All Routes with Filed Application for Consolidation on or before December 31, 2023.”

With the issuance of the MC, the LTFRB effectively revokes the permits or Provisional Authorities (PAs) issued to individual operators in all routes without consolidated Transport Service Entity (TSE), effective January 1, 2024.

Moreover, the units of PUV operators who failed to consolidate or apply for consolidation into a TSE before the deadline “shall not be confirmed for purposes of registration as public utility vehicles.”

“Accordingly, a Show Cause Order shall be issued in compliance with the provisions of the Public Service Act, as amended,” the MC 2023-051 read.

The LTRFB said separate guidelines shall be issued to ensure adequate supply of public transport on all routes without consolidated TSEs.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said there will be no more extension of the December 31, 2023 deadline for PUV operators to consolidate their operations as 70% of PUV operators “have already committed to and consolidated under the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP)." 

"We cannot let the minority cause further delays and affect the majority of the operators, banks, financial institutions, and the public at large," Marcos said.

Meanwhile, the MC said that all consolidated TSEs and individual operators with filed application for consolidation on or before December 31, 2023 “shall continue to operate under their existing PV which shall be valid until December 31, 2024 or upon issuance of CPC (Certificate of Public Convenience), whichever comes first.”

Moreover, the LTFRB said in its latest circular that “the 6-9-12 month scheme to substitute the old/existing units under MC No. 2021-021 and MC 2022-033 is hereby set aside.”

“The period within which to comply with such a scheme shall be subject to subsequent issuance of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) or the Board.”

The latest MC shall take effect immediately following its publication in at least one newspaper of general circulation.

The PUV Modernization Program, which started in 2017, aims to replace jeepneys with vehicles that have at least a Euro 4-compliant engine to lessen pollution and replace PUVs that are not roadworthy by Land Transportation Office (LTO) standards.

Each unit, however, would cost over P2 million, an amount that even state-run banks LandBank and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) said is too expensive for PUV drivers and operators.  

The LTFRB’s release of its MC came as transport groups led by the Pagkakaisa ng mga Samahan ng Tsuper at Opereytor Nationwide (PISTON) moved forward with their two-day transport strike to oppose the PUVMP and the December 31, 2023 deadline for PUV consolidation, which they said will result in the disenfranchisement of many jeepney operators and drivers.

Earlier, PISTON president Mody Floranda said that the majority of traditional jeepneys still pass through Metro Manila.

''Meron pa ring 35,000 na mga traditional jeepney ang hindi pumasok sa mga consolidation dito sa NCR at doon din sa iba't ibang mga rehiyon. Almost 40,000 na mga UV Express ang hindi pa rin po pumapasok sa consolidation,'' Floranda said on Tuesday on GTV’s Balitanghali.

[There are still 35,000 traditional jeepneys who have yet to be consolidated here in NCR and other regions. Almost 40,000 of UV Express also have yet to be consolidated.] — RSJ, GMA Integrated News