Manila: The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) announced a temporary reduction in surge pricing for ride-hailing services during peak times and high-demand periods throughout the holiday season.
According to Philippines News Agency, LTFRB Chair Vigor Mendoza II stated that this adjustment will be effective from December 17, 2025, to January 4, 2025, to coincide with the holiday season's peak demand. The decision follows the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Secretary Giovanni Lopez to develop guidelines for calculating TNVS fares.
The LTFRB plans to continue examining surge pricing for transport network vehicle services (TNVS), including rules, regulations, and jurisprudence related to the fare matrix. Surge pricing was originally designed to balance supply and demand by motivating more TNVS drivers to operate during high-demand periods, enhancing service availability. However, complaints have arisen due to the lack of specific parameters for computing surge pricing fares.
Under LTFRB Memorandum Circular (MC) 2019-036, which established the TNVS fare matrix, surge pricing should not exceed twice the base fare, though it did not specify computation guidelines. In contrast, the new MC 2025-056 aims to provide a 'win-win' solution addressing both commuter and TNVS driver concerns. The memorandum stipulates that surge pricing must not exceed the B+C TNVS fare matrix, where B represents the per-kilometer rate and C represents the per-minute charge.
Currently, hatchback and sub-compact TNVS units have a flag down rate of PHP35, sedans at PHP45, AUVs at PHP55, and premium units at PHP145. The per-kilometer rate is PHP13 for hatchbacks and sub-compacts, PHP15 for sedans, PHP18 for AUVs, and PHP36 for premium units. All units incur a PHP2 per-minute travel charge except premium units, which have a PHP4 charge.
Under the new memorandum, a car/sedan TNVS traveling 5 kilometers in 10 minutes will charge PHP75 for the per-kilometer rate and PHP20 for the travel time, totaling PHP95, plus a flag down rate of PHP45. Consequently, surge pricing must not exceed PHP95 for sedans.
To optimize TNVS drivers' earnings, the LTFRB memo specifies that transport network companies (TNCs) must not take a share from the surge price. The memo states, "The TNCs shall not collect any share, commission, or impose a service fee derived from the surge price component of the TNVS fare during the implementation of this Memorandum Circular." It mandates both TNVS operators and TNCs to reconfigure their fare-computation algorithms by December 17, 2025, to accommodate the new surge pricing structure.
