Press Release
October 11, 2007

CHANGE-KEEPING CABBIES TO BE PENALIZED

In the face of the coming Christmas season when taxis are in demand, Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. filed a bill that seeks to penalize tax drivers who refuse to give the exact change to its passengers.

According to the senator, many people prefer the taxi as means of transportation especially during the Christmas season for convenience and time considerations but they often become victims of unscrupulous taxi drivers.

He lamented that it has been observed that many taxi drivers collect excess fares from its passengers including balikbayans and other tourists picked up from the airport who are easy prey to abusive cabbies.

"Whatever the fare as registered in the taxi meter, there are taxi drivers who automatically charged an amount rounded off to the higher ten. We can call it a subtle hold-up. If a passenger asks for his exact change, the common answer is that they do not have enough coins or this was their first trip. If we will act against this racket, it will certainly continue during the holiday season when taxis are in demand, " Revilla said.

Under the Road Courtesy Guidelines of the Land Transportation Office (LTO), taxi units found with unflagged taxi meters or operating on contractual basis shall be charged P150.00.

Refusal to render service to the public has a fine of P375.00 while refusal to convey passenger to his destination is meted a P500 fine. The taxi driver and operator will have a separate fine of P1000.00 each.

Revilla filed Senate Bill (SB) No. 1691 or the "Exact Fare Act", laying down the procedures on filing a complaint against change-keeping cabbies and the corresponding penalties according to the number of complaints.

In filing the said bill, Revilla explained that it is a state policy to protect the interest of the passengers, promote their general welfare and establish standards of conduct for the transportation industry.

"Several laws and ordinances were enacted to uphold the safety of the commuters to and from their places of destination. But we do not have a law that specifically addresses change-keeping of taxi drivers," the lawmaker said.

Under SB 1691, the victimized taxi passenger should file a complaint with Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) not later than five days after the violation is committed. The DOTC should, in not more than ten working days after the receipt of the complaint, issue a notice and conduct an investigation to the concerned driver and operator.

For the first offense, the violator shall be fined One Thousand Pesos and Two Thousand Pesos for the second offense.

For the third offense, the violator shall be fined Five Thousand Pesos and shall be suspended from driving public utility vehicle (PUV) for a period of not less than one month but not more than six months. For subsequent violations, the driver shall be penalized with a suspension for a period not less than one year but not more than two years and the operator's license to operate shall be suspended for the same period.

The taxi driver shall be principally liable. However, in case of insolvency, the operator's subsidiary liability will be enforced. "If there are 5,000 more or less cabbies in Metro Manila doing this wicked practice to each passenger they pick-up, thousands of commuters are being short-changed everyday," Revilla added.

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