Grab Philippines maintained its ground that its fare is “legal and upfront.”

Leo Gonzales, Grab Philippines Public Affairs Head, said on Wednesday that all fares of the company were covered by Department of Transportation order in 2015.

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Gonzales added that the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) affirmed the department order (DO) saying that it is “valid, legal and subsisting until nullified by court.”

“All fares by Grab are legal and upfront and covered by a Department of Transportation Order in 2015 which allowed Transport Network Companies (TNC) like Grab and Uber to set their own fares,” Gonzales said in a statement.

“That DO actually put the Philippines way ahead in the region as far as support for TNCs and it was the reason the ride-hailing service here blossomed immediately. Unfortunately, we are now back to the real world again because of politics,” he added.

Gonzales also questioned the credibility of Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Partylist Rep. Jericho Nograles’s claim that their P80 base fare was “illegal.”

He said that given the P2 per minute charge was imposed when the 2015 DO was still in effect, the fare was legal.

He also said the accusations of Nograles against them results to the “suffering” of the riding public.

“So how can Nograles claim the fares are illegal when the fares have always been upfront and the DO allowing us to set fares with LTFRB’s oversight was in effect? The riding public is suffering because of Nograles’ mistaken claims,” Gonzales said.

In a statement on Monday, Nograles said that the fares of Grab was illegal for it did not undergo public hearing.

“Without any public hearing, Grab Philippines again unilaterally imposed a new illegal fare condition. [D]uring the April 17 LTFRB hearing, Grab Philippines denied to the board that they impose an P80 minimum fare,” Nograles said.

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“Now, no less than the Grab app publicly declares that the company charges the same minimum fare. This brazen act shows not only disrespect to the regulators, but proof that Grab Philippines has no intention to follow Philippine laws,” the lawmaker said.

“This is a usurpation of the powers of the LTFRB and this is a violation of our existing laws. Just because they now have a virtual monopoly of our TNVS (transport network vehicle services) sector, they can now violate our laws by setting their own fare rates?” he added. /je

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