For allegedly insulting a couple, who are persons with disability (PWDs), a taxi driver is in trouble after the couple filed a complaint against him at the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7) yesterday.
Marie Sheila Padilla, 42, and her husband, Jose Revel Padilla, 47, accused Beny Gocotano, 50, of Tiger Taxi of insulting them when they asked for his assistance in getting off the cab and getting their wheelchairs from the cab’s baggage compartment last Dec. 26 in Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City.
The couple, who are polio victims, came from SM Seaside City Cebu and rode Gocotano’s taxi on their way home. They said they paid P90 for an P82 fare as reflected on the taxi meter and asked for their change.
The Padillas claimed that the driver allegedly insulted them when they asked him to help them retrieve their wheelchairs at the taxi’s baggage compartment.
“Now, you look at this. Since you are the ones that need help, then you should also consider adding something to your fare,” Jose Revel recounted in Cebuano what the driver allegedly told them.
“He belittled us (PWDs). Because we just need help, then we need to pay more for our fare?” Maria Sheila told Cebu Daily News in Cebuano.
Gocotano, however, denied the couple’s allegations.
“That was not true. I did not know what to do first when I received their fare. Should I give the change first or open the door and assist them?” Gocotano, who also apologized to the couple, said in Cebuano
With the couple submitting a written complaint at the LTFRB-7 yesterday, Gocotano was asked to answer the complaint on or before Jan. 6, 2017.
LTFRB-7 chief Ahmed Cuizon also reminded taxi drivers that aside from the less P10 fare, PWDs are also entitled to the 20 percent discount of their fare.
Meanwhile, the LTFRB-7 is also reminding the transport network vehicle services (TNVS) applicants to follow up on their applications as probational authorities (PAs) have already been issued.
Cuizon said that of 31 PAs, 24 were given to Grab units while 7 were given to Uber units.