The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Thursday said unconsolidated public utility vehicles will be allowed to ply their routes until April 30, but only if they are registered with the Land Transportation Office (LTO)
LTFRB chief Teofilo Guadiz III said Memorandum Circular 2024-001 providing the guidelines on the consolidation during the period of extension, also granted provisional authority to unconsolidated individual operators to operate until the expiration of the extension on April 30.
“The authority to operate the units of all unconsolidated individual operators is EXTENDED until 30 April 2024, provided the unit is currently registered with the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and has a valid Personal Passenger Accident Insurance Coverage,” the three-page Jan. 30 circular read.
“Confirmation of units of unconsolidated individual operators may be allowed until April 30, 2024. The said units are allowed to ply the route as PUV only within the said period,” it stated.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved the recommendation of Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista to grant a three-month extension for the Industry Consolidation Component of the Public Transport Modernization Program (PTMP).
According to Guadiz, the memorandum set the guidelines for the filing of application for consolidation, reiterating that all applications for consolidation shall comply with the documentary requirements and procedures provided in MC 2023-050.
For routes covered by the Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP), consolidation is allowed on existing rationalized routes with no consolidated entity as of Dec. 31, 2023.
For routes not yet covered by the LPTRP or route rationalization, consolidation is allowed if the number of unconsolidated units in a particular route is at least 40 percent of the total number of authorized units (NAU).
The consolidated entities on the route must comply with a common fleet management to ensure organized dispatch of units and avoid cut-throat competition between them.
Moreover, if the number of unconsolidated units is below 40 percent of the total NAU, consolidation shall not be allowed, the LTFRB said.
The unconsolidated individual operators may join existing transport service entity (TSEs) on the route subject to the conformity of the latter.
For routes with NAU of less than 15 units, consolidation shall be allowed if the application for consolidation covers at least the majority of the existing NAU on the said route.
For this purpose, individual operators whose applications for consolidation was limited by prior issuances of the Board restricting the number of units to 15 units, may be allowed to form their own TSE or join any existing TSEs in overlapping routes until April 30 with the latter’s conformity, the rules stated.
An operator is allowed to withdraw membership in a cooperative without endorsement of the Office of Transport Cooperatives (OTC), provided the application for consolidation of the cooperative from which the member seeks withdrawal is still pending with the LTFRB or its regional franchising and regulatory office (RFROs) and no certificate of public convenience (CPC) has been issued at the time of withdrawal.
The memorandum also provided that the withdrawal of membership shall conform to existing Cooperative Development Authority and OTC rules and regulations.
Individual stockholders/members are likewise allowed to withdraw from the TSE corporation, provided that the application for consolidation of the corporation is still pending with the LTFRB or its RFROs and no CPC has been issued at the time of withdrawal.
The withdrawal of membership/shareholding shall conform to existing Securities Exchange Commission rules and regulations.
MC 2024-00 takes effect immediately upon publication in a newspaper of general circulation.