New Ride Hailing Apps to Compete with Grab Revealed by LTFRB

LTFRB announces that several transport network companies have already presented to their board for accreditation. As of posting, 4 ride hailing services including Lag Go, Hype and Owto are already awaiting their accreditation. This news came after many citizens raised their concern regarding Grab monopolizing the market.

A few months ago, Grab was mainly competing with Uber but the latter decided to discontinue their services in the Philippines. According to reports, the required system in the Philippines is different to the system they originally implement so they had to let go. And because of that, they decided to sell their Southeast Asian business to Grab.

 By April 9, 2018, Uber apps will no longer be available for us and all of its services will officially close. The migration of drivers from Uber to Grab will not happen automatically as consent is still needed from the drivers. No announcement yet has been given how Grab will handle the migration but it is expected to happen soon after the official closing of Uber apps. As for Uber clients, the app can still be kept installed in their smartphones as they can still use the app when in other countries. 

There are no announcement either when the new TNC will start operating in the Philippines. According to LTFRB board member Aileen Lizada, the new ride hailing apps are still complying with their requirements but the board has already seen their structure and has presented. She also said that this competition will be good and mainly benefit our commuters as prices will go down and services will be better.