Grab Philippines is urging the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to ease the regulatory requirements for transportation network vehicle service (TNVS) applicants to alleviate the driver shortage.
In a media briefing, Grab Philippines Senior Director for Operations Ronald Roda said despite the additional TNVS slots opened by the government, less than a thousand applications have been approved due to tedious requirements.
“We’re asking [LTFRB] for changes. Assuming you [LTFRB] ease up requirements, we would increase our capacity,” Roda said.
Roda said the demand for its transport services already breached past the pre-pandemic level in December last year.
Data from Grab showed that daily bookings in Greater Metro Manila alone far exceeds the existing supply of ride-hailing drivers – with Grab serving less than half of the passenger demand volume during December.
Outside of Greater Metro Manila, the demand for GrabCar has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels, but has shown monthly double-digit growth.
Areas outside the Greater Metro Manila, including Pampanga, Albay, Camarines Sur, Iloilo City, Bacolod City, and Cebu, also need additional supply of TNVS.