Unconsolidated PUVs now illegal – LTFRB

TRAFFIC enforcers can start apprehending unconsolidated public utility vehicles (PUVs) plying their routes since the 15-day grace period to consolidate lapsed on May 15, the Department of Transportation (DoTr) said on Thursday.

«In the matter of apprehending unconsolidated PUVs who do not have to ply the streets because they no longer have a franchise, it is really an obligation; that is the job of certain agencies such as the LTO (Land Transportation Office), MMDA (Metropolitan Manila Development Authority), and PNP (Philippine National Police),» Transportation Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure Andy Ortega said in a public briefing.

«The operators and drivers of unconsolidated PUVs have been told that they no longer have a franchise after the 15-day grace period and that the start of flagging down of PUVs is May 16,» Ortega added.

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Chairman Teofilo Guadiz III said unconsolidated PUVs were now considered illegal.

«We can now apprehend the driver of the vehicle. The grace period we gave them is over,» Guadiz said.

An apprehended PUV will be impounded for 30 days. Its operator will be meted a P50,000 fine, while the license of the driver will be suspended for one year.

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President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has rejected calls to extend the April 30 consolidation deadline.

The DoTr and the LTFRB, however, gave drivers and operators a 15-day grace period to join cooperatives.

Ortega said 80 percent of PUVs in the country have complied with the requirements of the Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program (PUVMP).

He added that in Metro Manila, 60 percent of PUVs were already consolidated.

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«It is important to note that we have the right number of PUVs who have joined the PUVMP. That is why the program will push through as promised by the government,» he said.