MANILA - Regulators on Monday said Grab and Uber drivers will not lose their jobs as the number of cars to be accredited for ride-sharing services will be raised to 65,000 units from 45,000.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said it raised the number of ride-sharing units based on a third party audit of the master list of drivers and operators provided by the two firms.

Grab and Uber currently have 59,020 accredited driver-partners, who submitted applications and remained active before the board imposed a moratorium on new applications on July 2017, the LTFRB said.

The new cap for the number of driver-partners also considered the number coding scheme, inactive drivers, days off needed to maintain, those subscribed to both transport network companies and unserved demand of passengers.

LTFRB officer-in-charge Aileen Lizada advised the public not to purchase units intended for TNVS Transport Network Vehicles Service operation.

"Yung mga nagapply before July 2017 moratorium ang iho-honor. Yun muna," Lizada said.

(Those who applied before the July 2017 moratorium will be honored first.)

After three months, the board will review the numbers again to determine wether or not there is a need to adjust, she said.

Uber and Grab welcomed the decision of the LTFRB.

"Ito rin yung tantya namin before na 60,000 to 70,000. Sixty-five thousand, so yun yung average. Wala pong mawawalan ng trabaho," said Grab Philippines country head Brian Cu.

(This was also our estimate before which was 60,000 to 70,000. Sixty five thousand is the average. No one will lose their job.)

"On the number that they provided, we still need to assess the impact it will have on our reliability, but we'll continue to work with LTFRB on the quarterly process," said Irish Almeida

policy associate at Uber.

The LTFRB also said it was establishing an online system to fast-track the processing of TNVS applications.

Meanwhile, hatchbacks or vehicles with small engine displacement are allowed to operate but will soon be prohibited to ply outside Metro Manila. These units will have their own category and will offer lower fares.

LTFRB also said they will only issue a franchise to the vehicle's registered owner and not the person leasing the unit. -- report from Jacque Manabat, ABS-CBN News