Following two confirmed incidents of overcharging involving two taxis, the management of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has initiated a full audit of all the accredited public transportation to prevent the repeat of similar incidents at the country’s main gateway.
In a statement, the New NAIA Infra Corp. (NNIC) said that the main goal is to improve the transport system while ensuring that no abuses will be committed especially on airline passengers, especially inter-terminal travel and those going out of the NAIA.
“NNIC is conducting a full audit to determine which accreditations remain valid, which contracts are expiring, and which providers do not meet current standards,” the statement read.
“To help passengers easily identify legitimate transport providers, NNIC is looking to roll out new and more visible accreditation markings with tamper-resistant features,” it added.
During an initial investigation, the driver in the viral overcharging video claimed that the incident is actually rooted from an extortion racket at the NAIA involving airport personnel.
Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Vince Dizon already sacked five airport personnel over the incident.
Since assuming the operation of the NAIA in September last year, the NNIC said it already launched a centralized transport hub at Terminal 3 for app-based ride-hailing services such as Grab and Joyride Super Taxi.
The move, it said, was to ensure orderly pickups and provide passengers safer, more convenient, and efficient transport options.
“NNIC has also added more CCTV cameras and deployed additional security personnel to strengthen monitoring and enforcement across the entire airport — including areas beyond terminal curbsides,” the statement read.
Such a move, it said, is part of ongoing efforts to prevent unauthorized pickup of passengers.
“Also, prior to the incident, NNIC had already increased the number of inter-terminal shuttle buses, which run every 15 minutes — making it faster and more convenient for passengers to transfer between terminals — free of charge,” it said. (Aaron Recuenco)
