LTFRB poised to impound ‘colorum’ Arcade City vehicles

“Huwag po magpapaloko ang mga Filipino sa Arcade City. Mas malala pa po ito as a TNC or TNVS because Arcade City claims it is neither,” LTFRB Board Member Aileen Lizada said in a statement. (PNA photo)

MANILA — The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Saturday issued a stern warning that it will impound vehicles operating under United States-based ride-sharing application Arcade City, amid the company’s plan to push through with its mobile application launch on Monday.

The LTFRB said it will also be coordinating with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to shut down Arcade City’s website.

“Huwag po magpapaloko ang mga Filipino sa Arcade City. Mas malala pa po ito as a TNC or TNVS because Arcade City claims it is neither,” LTFRB Board Member Aileen Lizada said in a statement.

“Marami pong violation; walang accreditation as TNC, wala na pong prangkisa ang TNVS kaya kami sa LTO, LTFRB, HPG at MMDA sinabihan namin ang mga regional directors download the app sasakyan namin ang mga kotse nila at impound namin yun,” she added.

The board said it will also file a complaint before the US Embassy against Arcade City founder and chief executive officer, Christopher David.

“They are making a mockery of the rules and regulations in the country,” according to Lizada.

The LTFRB ordered Arcade City not to push through with the launch of its app on April 16 and to stop all bookings made with its platform, calling its operations “colorum”.

The board had advised the company as early as August 2017 to cease its operations as it was operating as another transportation network company without coordinating with the agency.

Arcade City said it is launching on Monday its decentralized ridesharing network across Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The company claims to be an alternative to Uber as it embraces a new peer-to-peer model of ride-sharing wherein drivers are free to build up their own transportation businesses like true entrepreneurs instead of controlling them from a corporate headquarters.