The Philippines’ Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has denied Go-Jek’s application for a transport network operator’s license for a second time.
The ride-hailing company had asked LTFRB to reconsider its application, but the public transport regulator said it did not meet domestic ownership requirements, Rappler reported – reiterating its earlier reason for refusal.
Photo credit: Go-Jek
Under local regulations, transportation network vehicle services such as ride-hailing apps are classified as public transport, meaning that they must be at least 60 percent Filipino-owned.
Go-Jek had initially applied for a license to operate in the country last year through its local entity Velox Technology Philippines. This was refused by LTFRB in January this year on the basis that the local entity was 99.99 percent owned by Go-Jek’s Singapore-registered subsidiary, Velox South-East Asia Holdings.
Go-Jek formally asked the agency to review the refusal, but LTFRB stuck with its earlier decision.
“They filed a motion for reconsideration but failed to fix Filipino ownership requirement,” LTFRB chairman Martin Delgra told Reuters, without giving further details.
“Go-Jek is disappointed with LTFRB’s decision,” a company spokesperson told Tech in Asia. “Commuters in Singapore, Vietnam, and Thailand, as well as Indonesia, benefit from our technology every day, but due to this decision it seems drivers and commuters in the Philippines will have to wait a bit longer. We will now explore our options.”
They added, “Go-Jek hopes to arrive at a fruitful working relationship with regulators in order to deliver this service to Filipino people as soon as possible.”
The spokesperson did not provide any further detail on how Go-Jek had sought to address LTFRB’s foreign ownership concerns.
Go-Jek acquired Manila-based fintech startup Coins.ph in a US$72 million deal in January, giving the Indonesian company a consumer-facing presence in the Philippines for the first time.
Editing by Judith Balea
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