On Monday in the Philippines, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board suspended Uber’s accreditation and operations for one month.
In its advisory, the LTFRB board concluded that Uber was ordered to immediately cease and desist its operations of their online booking application during the period of one month’s suspension.
LTFRB also recommended that Uber extend financial assistance to affected peer-operators during the suspension period “as an expression of good faith,” noting that the operators “would not have suffered the current predicament were it not for the predatory actions of respondent user.”
Copies of the suspension were furnished to enforcers of the LTFRB, Land Transportation Office, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, and the Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group.
“Uber received an order around 6pm tonight (August 14) to completely stop operations. We are studying the order at the moment. We will update our riders and drivers as soon as we can,” stated a representative for the company.
Currently both Uber as well as rival Grab are in dispute with the LTFRB over the scope of regulation on ride-sharing services, sparking separate investigations by the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Uber and Grab have already been fined P5 million each by the LTFRB, as both companies have been accused of operating some 50,000 vehicles in the Philippines without proper permits.
Read more
