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Antitrust commission to look at regulatory issues hounding ride-sharing industry


The Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) aims to level the playing field in the land transportation sector by look into regulatory issues troubling the transport network vehicle services (TNVS) industry and ride-sharing companies.

"We have reached out to the LTFRB (Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board) ... for us to inject a competition lens into the discussion," PCC chairman Arsenio Balisacan told GMA News Online on the sidelines of the Senate finance committee hearing on the commission's proposed budget for 2018.

Balisacan said the PCC will help the LTFRB draft a regulatory framework for the app-based ride-sharing sector.

The draft will likely be completed in September.

"As of now they are crafting rules that we don't know exactly how those new rules will impact competition. And that's where we want to come in, because, if we see there are competition issues, we will need to discuss it with them," the PCC chief said.

"The objective is to promote safety as a regulator, and our objective is to promote public welfare through competition," he added.

The PCC is mandated to ensure fair market competition through regulation of anti-competitive practices in various sectors.

Republic Act 10667 or the Philippine Competition Act is now in full force after the two-year transitory grace period lapsed on August 9, giving the antitrust commission the authority to pursue its mandate and impose stricter measures against anti-competitve practices.

Asked if the PCC will review Grabe and Uber for supposed unfair competition as alleged by some taxi drivers and operators, Balisacan said, "as of now we are viewing this as a regulatory issue."

"If they are seeing specific cases, they can actually file a verified complaint before the PCC. In this case, if they have strong ground or basis, they can file ... and then we can take it from them," he said. — VDS, GMA News
 

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