The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) already knew back in May 2022 that as many as 7,000 drivers were needed for ride hailing services, but only processed less than half of that volume of applications until now.
In an interview on One News’ The Chiefs Thursday (January 12), LTFRB Technical Division head Joel Bolano admitted that the gap between supply and demand has already been foreseen early last year.
“‘Yung pag-open namin ng TNVS (transport network vehicle service) slots, nag-open ‘yan, nag-start pa ‘yan nung May, actually in preparation talaga dahil because of this demand nga, and then we have the study na meron ngang kakulangan,” he explained.
The shortage appears to be LTFRB’s own doing as only a few drivers passed their criteria.
“Unfortunately, out of the 7,000, ang lumabas na nakapasa lang duns sa pag-submit ng kanilang requirements, mga 2,000 plus. Kaya ‘yung inopen ng LTFRB nitong January is just the remaining,” Bolano said.
“Di ba nagpalit kami ng board? So ‘yun, ngayon lang naglabas ng order ang board para iopen na ulit siya. At least in preparation again for the coming season nitong summer,” he added.
The LTFRB recently announced that 4,000 new slots have been opened for TNVS driver applicants in response to strong demand for ride hailing services.