Minimum fare for tricycles-for-hire have been tolerated at times at P10 already as the plight of tricycle drivers remained unattended despite the price increases of petroleum products.
Tricycle drivers admitted some passengers would no longer mind the P2 change if they hand P10, while others would insist to get the change.
The drivers cited the worsening traffic as a factor in the increase in fuel consumption that they barely met the boundary in some days.
According to the drivers, there had been no talks yet as to the adjustment of the minimum fare in the city despite the several rounds of increases in the prices of unleaded gasoline which they use.
Unleaded gasoline in the city now reached above P40 per liter after the recent increases on January 31 and February 7.
They complained that while prices of commodities continue to increase, their income remain the same or even decrease on days where competition is tight as some commuters had already purchased private vehicles.
Oil companies increased the price of gasoline by 50 centavos per liter, diesel by 30 centavos per liter and kerosene by 30 centavos per liter on February 7.
In the preceding Tuesday, the oil companies also increased the prices of diesel by 25 centavos per liter.
On January 24, the oil companies increased the price of gasoline by 60 centavos.
The drivers said the recent price increases when they had barely felt the benefit of the rollback on January 17 wherein some oil companies adjusted the prices of gasoline by 20 centavos per liter and others by 30 centavos per liter.
The oil companies, on January 17, reduced the price of diesel by 35 centavos per liter and kerosene by 40 centavos per liter.
On January 10, the oil companies increased the price of diesel by 10 centavos per liter, but there was no movement in price of gasoline then.
Although they still have to come up with a formal request to the city government, they said officials may also take notice of that there had been more price increases than reduction in petroleum products.
All that they could rely now is the compassion of passengers who may tolerate a P10 minimum fare, without them being brought to the police station for overcharging as they also have families to feed and children to send to school.
The first round of oil price increase hit 2017 on the first workday of the year on January 3.
Oil companies then increased the prices of gasoline by 70 centavos per liter, diesel by 60 centavos per liter and kerosene by 55 centavos per liter.
As there had been more increases than rollbacks, the DyRD Inyong Alagad expressed disappointed on the government’s failure to stabilize the prices of petroleum products that might have an impact on the prices of basic commodities and minimum fares for PUVs.
The oil deregulation law was gain hit, allegedly being the reason that the government now could no longer control the prices of petroleum products.
The Oil Deregulation Law or Republic Act 8479 was passed in 1998, giving the oil companies free hand with the pricing.
Also under the law, government could no longer interfere in the “export and importation of oil products, as progressive groups cited.