Over 50,000 TNVS, MC taxi drivers found 'colorum' during aid distribution

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has uncovered thousands of Transport Network Vehicle Service (TNVS) drivers and motorcycle taxi riders are operating without franchises or are deemed “colorum” during payouts of the government’s cash aid to transport sector workers amid rising fuel costs.

“Sa TNVS, ang allowed, based on our list, is only 54,000. ‘Yun ‘yung may tamang prangkisa. Now, noong nagbigay ng ayuda ang mga drivers that are asking for supposed ayuda lumagpas sa 54,000. Base nga sa listahan ni [Social Welfare] Sec. Rex Gatchalian, umaabot ng 100,000,” Acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB on Saturday.

(For TNVS, the allowed number, based on our list, is only 54,000. They have franchises. Now, when the drivers who are asking for aid exceeded 54,000, based on the list of [Social Welfare] Sec. Rex Gatchalian, it reached 100,000.)

Lopez made the remark after he ordered Transport Network Companies (TNCs) and Motorcycle Taxi Platform Providers (MTPPs) to stop the onboarding of new drivers and riders after the DOTr found that the number of TNVS drivers and MC taxi riders exceeded the cap set by the agency.

“Sa motorcycle taxi naman… per provider, binibigyan natin ng cap. Ang suma total ng cap is only 78,000. Ang riders na nasa kalsada is lalagpas na yata ng 200,000. So, sumobra na talaga,” Lopez said.

(As for motorcycle taxis… per provider, we give a cap. The total cap is only 78,000. The riders on the road are probably over 200,000. So, it's too many.)

In a memorandum, the Transportation chief directed the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to halt the onboarding of new drivers and riders for TNVS and MC taxi, except those who already have a valid franchise.

Lopez admitted that there could be lapses in the systems that resulted in TNCs and MTPPs exceeding their respective driver and rider caps.

“Sabi ko, mayroong kasalanan din dito ang mga government officials… kasi hindi pwedeng hindi niyo alam with such magnitude na napakalaki ang sobra, ang colorum ay either nagbubulag-bulagan ka o hindi nakikita,” Lopez said.

(I said government officials are also at fault here... because it is impossible that you don't know that there is an excess, colorum. Either you are turning a blind eye or you don't see it.)

The DOTr also stopped the on-the-spot and same-day onboarding activities of TNCs and MTPPs.

The department is looking into imposing penalties against those TNCs and MTPPs who are found to have violated the imposed caps on the number of TNVS and MC taxi drivers and riders. —Ted Cordero/VBL, GMA News