LTFRB: No more formal hearings in applications for franchise renewals

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has fast-tracked the process for the application of extensions of the validity of certificates of public convenience (CPC) by doing away with the required formal hearing.

In a statement on Wednesday, LTFRB chairperson Vigor Mendoza II said there is “no need for another hearing to extend CPC validity” for units that “remained true to their commitment to providing good public transportation service.”

“Renewing a CPC is different from applying for the first time. For CPC renewal, the public need for the service had already been proven, and the operator had already been found qualified to run it. The renewal is simply asking to keep doing what was already allowed,” Mendoza said.

The CPC is a document that authorizes the operation of a public utility vehicle (PUV).

The LTFRB said an application for renewal is not an original process.

The agency explained that it is a “continuation of an already-established franchise, requiring only a showing that the operator has maintained compliance with the conditions under which the CPC was previously granted.”

The move is part of efforts to facilitate the ease of doing business in the country as ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and as required by the Public Service Act and the Ease of Doing Business Law.

Earlier, the LTFRB issued Memorandum Circular No. 2026-035 that dispensed with the publication of notices of hearing in newspapers of general circulation to expedite the entire franchise application process.

“Our goal is clear, to make everything easy and comfortable for all our clients and to make them feel that they are essential partners of the national government in the interest of the riding public,” Mendoza said.

“We are on the right track in doing so, and we are confident that the ease of the transactions that our client would experience would translate to further improvement of services to millions of Filipino commuters,” he added.

Under Memorandum Circular 2026-038 dated May 19, all operators are required to have a working, valid email address that will serve as the line of communication for all notices and processes of the LTFRB. The directive will take effect before the end of May.

The e-mail will also serve as a platform for submitting documents as part of the national government’s digitalization efforts, including those of the LTFRB. — JMA, GMA News