REPRESENTATIVES of the Transport Network Vehicle Service (TNVS) sector raised concerns about driver commissions and long working hours during the first public consultation held by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on pending fare increase petitions for ride-hailing services. LTFRB Chairman Vigor Mendoza II said this week's meeting forms part of a series of consultations aimed at expediting the resolution of fare hike requests filed before the agency. Mendoza acknowledged that some of the concerns raised fall outside the LTFRB’s regulatory mandate but said the agency will consolidate the issues for a dialogue with concerned government agencies, including the Department of Labor and Employment and the Office of the Solicitor General. According to Mendoza, the meeting with TNVS representatives is the first in a series of public consultations that the LTFRB will conduct to address multiple fare increase petitions revived by transport groups amid successive oil price hikes. TNVS stakeholders were also asked to submit supporting documents that regulators need to determine whether the proposed fare adjustments are justified. The LTFRB last approved a provisional P1 fare increase in October 2023, a move then seen as a compromise as the country continued to recover from the economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Several fare hike petitions have been filed before the LTFRB, including recent requests submitted by three major transport groups in October 2024. Separate consultations with stakeholders from the bus, taxi and jeepney sectors are expected to follow as the agency moves to fast-track deliberations on the pending petitions. Mendoza said the LTFRB aims to decide on the petitions as soon as possible and assured the public that any decision on fare adjustments would reflect a balance between commuters' capacity to pay and the concerns of drivers and operators in the public transport sector.