Last December 16, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)—which mandate is to promulgate, administer, enforce, and monitor compliance of policies, laws, and regulations of public land transportation services in the country—has ordered new ride-sharing app OWTO to stop from its operations in the Philippines due to lack of requirements presented to LTFRB.
According to its website, OWTO is a 100-percent Filipino company. Click here to know about OWTO.
The “Cease and Desist” order was made when LTFRB saw OWTO’s social media post about their PRESS CONFERENCE event, which scheduled on December 18 (Monday).
LTFRB Board Member and Spokesperson Atty. Aileen Lizada said, “Before an app is made kailangan malaman ng TNC (Transport Network Companies) what are the requirements ng LTFRB, what we must see sa applications; therefore, they cannot just launched without presenting the business design to the regulatory body yun ang mga pagkakamali nila.”
Lizada explained, “Before anyone offers anything to the general public particularly itong mga TNC’s na ganito, they must present their business design to the regulatory body that is LTFRB. They need to know what are the things and requirements na dapat makita ng mga riders sa apps, they cannot just do it in their own without consulting the proper government agency.”
“To the organizers of OWTO it is best that you coordinate with LTFRB before you do any press conference, packaging and marketing, because you need to know the basic requirements that the law requires,” adds Lizada.
Last Sunday, we saw an OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT on the thread that we posted on our social media page.This is the content of their post in verbatim text:
Last December 16, 2017, we received a ‘Cease and Desist’ notification from LTFRB posted through its official Facebook account LTFRB Citizen Enforcer, directing OWTO to refrain from launching the OWTO App. sans the LTFRB’s imprimatur.
Some media outlets, broadcast, print and social media, reported that the LTFRB’s announcement directed OWTO to present its business designs to the board and secure the necessary requirements and guidelines for the accreditation. They also alleged that OWTO organisers must coordinate first with the LTFRB before any event in relation to OWTO’s apps launching may validly be conducted.
OWTO, first and foremost, is fully-committed to abide by all rules and guidelines set forth by the LTFRB. The event that is set to happen on December 18, 2017 at Amo Bar Gastropub is NOT a launch of the OWTO app.
It is only a PRESS CONFERENCE.
No pre-registration/registration of partners shall be undertaken.
No business activity shall be conducted.
We only aim to introduce our company to the public and nothing else.
In view of the LTFRB’s Order, we would like to clarify the following points:
* OWTO business owners have already presented the mobile app system to the LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra along with Engineer Manny Corpuz last November 15, 2017
* We were the first to receive the new guidelines for TNC accreditation as released early November, 2017.
* The chairman also advised that we can proceed with the filing of the Application for Accreditation as long as we complete the requirements as set forth in the New Guidelines. We are submitting the application on Monday, December 18, 2017
* As for the PRESS CONFERENCE, coordination has been going on since last week. OWTO did not seek the permission of the LTFRB regarding the December 18, 2017 Event as we do not intend to make any app launching or any act in violation of the Board’s rules and regulations.
This statement is being released to clarify all the confusion and miscommunications that resulted from the advisory.
Thank you and God bless you all.