It is going to be bad news for the commuting public as the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) orders two government agencies DOTC and LTFRB to stop accepting applications or approving applications from motor vehicles, which are considered public utility vehicles under the Transport Network Vehicle Services scheme. Uber and GrabCar are two of the companies that are greatly affected when the temporary restraining order (TRO) was issued.
When Uber and GrabCar operated, taxi operators and drivers are affected due to the decrease in their income. The 20-day TRO intends to stop accepting, processing and approving applications of those who want to establish partnership with GrabCar and Uber.
Transport advocate groups are not happy with the fact that Uber and GrabCar are allowed to operate without franchises. The group wishes to protect the rights of public utility vehicles with franchises. Taxi drivers also cry foul as dissatisfied and ripped off customers have suddenly preferred Uber, Grab and other ride sharing or app-based services.
These services are a huge help in terms of meeting transport demands and with the issuance of TRO, the efficiency in transportation becomes a difficult thing to achieve. The TRO does not apply to on-going operations of Uber and GrabCar. Its sole purpose is to stop various government offices from accepting applications while TRO is still being served.
The replete definition and purpose of Temporary Restraining Order can be found in administrative Circular No. 20-95:
“[1] Where an application for Temporary Restraining Order [TRO] or writ of preliminary injunction is included in a complaint or any initiatory pleading filed with the trial court, such complaint or initiatory pleading shall be raffled only after notice to the adverse party and in the presence of such party or counsel.
[2] The application for a TRO shall be acted upon only after all parties are heard in a summary haering conducted within twenty-four [24] hours after the records are transmitted to the branch selected by raffle. The records shall be transmitted immediately after raffle.
[3] If the matter is of extreme urgency, such that unless a TRO is issued, grave injustice and irreparable injury will arise, the Executive Judge shall issue the TRO efective only for seventy-two [72] hours from issuance but shall immediately summon the parties for conference and immediately raffle the case in their presence. Thereafter, before the expiry of the seventy-two [72] hours, the Presiding Judge to whom the case is assigned shall conduct a summary hearing to determine whether the TRO can be extended for another period until a hearing in the pending application for preliminary injunction can be conducted. In no case shall the total period of the TRO exceed twenty [20] days, including the original seventy-two [72] hours, for the TRO issued by the Executive Judge.
[4] With the exception of the provisions which necessarily involve multiple-sala stations, these rules shall apply to single-sala stations especially with regard to immediate notice to all parties of all applications for TRO.”
