The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board will now accept applications for the transfer of Certificates of Public Convenience for public utility vehicles.
“The LTFRB is very mindful of the situation, and that is why we took careful consideration in the issuance of this circular. We needed to strike a balance between allowing a legitimate CPC transfer and at the same time deter any form of abuse,” chairperson Teofilo Guadiz III said.
Some transport groups, such as the Nagkakaisang Samahan ng mga Nangangasiwa ng Panlalawigang Bus sa Pilipinas Inc., requested the LTFRB to review Memorandum Circular 2016-010 that prohibited the transfer of CPC to other operators.
Under Memorandum Circular 2023-027, or the “Guidelines on the Transfer of Certificate of Public Convenience,” it essentially lifts the “prohibition on the acceptance of application for sale and transfer, whether voluntary or involuntary, of CPC.”
This way, it will be easier to distribute aid to operators such as the Pantawid Pasada or the fuel subsidy program of the government. Operators can now easily join the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP) since they will be able to transfer and register their vehicles much faster.
With regard to applications for transfer of CPC, the Board listed some conditions before any application is allowed.
“The CPC subject for transfer must be valid and subsisting at the time of the application,” and “the transfer must also cover all authorized units under the subject CPC and no fractional transfer of CPC shall be allowed.” MC 2016-010 was issued in order to “solve the problem of commercialization of CPCs of ‘buy-and-sell’ operators who have abused and hijacked the franchising process by trafficking in CPCs/franchises at a huge profit instead of operating the same.”
The Board said after the review of MC 2016-010 and a series of consultative meetings, it decided to “set aside the prohibition,” and have provided “safeguards and parameters in the allowance of transfer of CPC to deter the fraudulent schemes the aforementioned issuance aims to avoid.”