(Eagle News) — The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board should ensure that the services of Transport Network Companies will not be disrupted, Senator Grace Poe said.
The chair of the Senate committee on public services made the statement after Uber announced it was exiting from the Southeast Asia market, including the Philippines’.
In a statement, Uber said it would be “transitioning” its services to the Grab platform by April 8, “so all requests after that date should be made from the Grab app.”
“In this connection, LTFRB should ensure that the number of available vehicles to serve the public should at least be maintained and that the only change effected would be the ownership issue and not the service convenience and availability,” Poe said.
According to Poe, “thousands of commuters rely on (Transport Network Vehicle Services) to ferry them to work and other places of destination.”
As such, she said that “although this is a business decision which should ultimately be settled between Grab and Uber, it is still imbued with public interest.”
“So the most important thing is that service to our commuters will not be disrupted,” she said.
She added that Uber’s decision could pave the way for the entry of other local players in the TNVS market.
Uber sold its Southeast Asian business to Grab on Monday, ending a bruising battle between the ride-hailing behemoths and marking the US firm’s latest retreat from international markets.
Singapore-based Grab is taking over the ride-sharing and food delivery operations of Uber in the region, with the California-headquartered company to receive a 27.5 percent stake in the business in return. Agence France Presse