MANILA, Philippines – Uber risks losing its accreditation after it defied a Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) order to halt accrediting new drivers, the agency said Tuesday, August 1.

According to the LTFRB show-cause order released to the media, Uber has continued accrediting new drivers into their system despite having been ordered to stop doing so last July 26. Grab, another major TNC company and Uber’s main competitor, was also covered by the order.

“Upon the conduct of investigation by the board…it was found that Respondent [Uber Systems Inc.] willfully and contumaciously violates the said directive contained in the Order dated 26 July 2017, specifically, by continuing to accept additional accreditation of TNVS and/or activation of accounts,” the show cause order read.

For this, the transport network company has been ordered to provide a written explanation due in a show-cause hearing on Wednesday, August 2.

“[Uber] is hereby ordered to submit its written explanation…to explain why its TNC accreditation should not be cancelled,” the order said.

The July 26 memo is the latest in a series of orders from the regulatory agency in its attempt to rein in the two TNC giants.

The previous orders were:

• July 21, 2016 – Moratorium on processing of new driver applications
• July 11, 2017 – Imposition of P5-million fines on Uber and Grab, and removal of all drivers with expired or no permits
• July 26, 2017 – Deactivation of Grab or Uber drivers who were registered after June 30, 2017

Reached for comment, Uber communications head Cat Avelino denied the LTFRB investigation findings, saying they already suspended activations since July 19.

This comes while Uber and Grab are in talks with the regulatory body in how to better regulate application-based ride-hailing services, supposedly brokered by lawmakers. – Rappler.com