Ride-sharing app drivers go on strike but Grab PH says no impact on operations 

More than 30,000 drivers of ride-sharing app vehicles planned to go on strike against the government’s regulation process today but Southeast Asian tech giant Grab said that as of this morning, the protest has not impacted their operations.

“We are closely monitoring the situation but as of writing, there has been no reported impact or passenger [complaints] from today’s TNVS (transport network vehicle service) Holiday,” Grab Public Relations Manager Arvi Persan Lopez told Coconuts Manila in an email.

As of this article’s posting, netizens have not complained much about the strike either.

Thousands of ride-hailing app (aka TNVS) drivers and operators planned to hold what they called a “transport holiday” today, wherein they go offline from 6am to 6pm in protest of the government’s process for approving franchise applications, The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported. This includes the sudden deactivation of thousands of hatchback vehicles as TNVS, allegedly due to safety concerns.

Metro Manila Hatchback Community Chairman Jun de Leon told ABS-CBN News that they are demanding the government to lift the ban on hatchbacks, saying that the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) had allowed hatchbacks as TNVS vehicles until 2021 through a memorandum circular from last year. De Leon also alleged that it has become harder for drivers and operators to get approved because of increasingly difficult requirements.

Deactivated drivers and operators of hatchback TNVS units planned to file cases against the LTFRB at the Office of the Ombudsman for not allowing them to operate until 2021, but they decided to put this on hold after the government engaged in a dialogue with them today. The LTFRB has also invited TNVS operators to a dialogue about their concerns scheduled for tomorrow.

Following these developments, several TNVS groups said that the transport holiday is optional for drivers, which may have waned the impact of today’s strike, The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported.

Those who did take part in the transport holiday were at the Quezon City Memorial Circle as early as 6am this morning, where they honked their vehicles’ horns as a part of their protest.

Despite Grab’s statement saying that the strike did not affect their operations, the LABAN TNVS movement declared the transport holiday a “success” in a statement today. However, they have not disclosed how many drivers took part in the strike.



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