The fare hike implemented during the first working day of October has prompted Isabela 6th District Representative Faustino Dy to ask Congress for the immediate passage of House Bill No. 1142 or the Student Fare Discount Act, a measure which would entitle students to reduced fares even for transport tickets purchased online.

The measure will amend Section 5 of Republic Act No. 11314, or An Act Institutionalizing the Grant of Student Fare Discount Privileges on Public Transportation, which grants students 20-percent discount on domestic regular fares for all public transportation.

Under the law, students are required to present their school identification card in person, which makes them unable to avail of the benefit when purchasing online.

“This is an exception that doesn’t make sense, and disincentivizes the use of technology when in fact we must push for its more widespread adoption,” Dy said in a recent statement.

If approved, students can avail of discounts when reloading the Beep card for payment of train and bus fares or when buying plane tickets to home to their provinces.

“Sa kabila ng pagtaas ng pamasahe, kailangan masiguro natin na napapakinabangan ang mga discount sa lahat ng pagkakataon (Amid the rise in transportation fares, we should make sure that the discounts are available all the time). This is why mandated discounts should also be applied to tickets that are bought online,” he added.

The amended provision states that the discount shall apply only to the base fare or the price of the ticket before taxes and costs for ancillary services.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board approved a PHP1-provisional increase in the minimum fare for the first four kilometers of travel of public utility jeepneys (PUJ) effective October 3.

The minimum fare for traditional PUJ is now PHP12 and the modern PUJ PHP14.

It also approved the increase in minimum fare for city buses by P2 for the first five kilometers – now PHP13 for the regular bus and PHP15 for the air-condition buses.

For provincial buses, the minimum fare rose to PHP11.

Meanwhile, the flag-down rate of taxis was hiked from PHP40 to PHP45. (PNA)