MANILA, Philippines - The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board on Tuesday said it is asking taxi operators to submit their financial statements to justify a petition to increase the taxi flagdown rate from P30 to P40.

LTFRB chairman Alberto Suansing said the petition for the flagdown increase came amid complaints from taxi drivers that they are only bringing home P200 ($4.37) to P500 ($10.93) for 16 hours of work every day.

"What we are looking at is - should we increase the flagdown rate? Or maybe it's the boundary that should be adjusted? Taxi drivers complain that the boundary is too high," he said in a radio dzMM interview.

The LTFRB chairman said some taxi operators charge their drivers P2,000 ($43.73) a day to use their taxis. Ironically, some taxi drivers only gross P3,500 ($76.53) after 16 hours of driving but will have to pay an additional P1,500 ($32.80) for fuel.

"When that happens, they go home with nothing," he said.

Suansing said he has asked taxi operators and consumer groups to submit their comments on the taxi flagdown petition within 5 days.

The LTFRB official said he has already received a petition to remove the 15-year ceiling on taxis to be considered still road-worthy. Currently, all taxis that have been used for 15 years are considered no longer road-worthy and should already be scrapped.

"In Baguio, you can see some taxis that are really old. The old Hyundais are still there. Fifteen years is really a very long time. By the time it reaches 13 years, a car's engine would already be giving out and the vehicle is more prone to accidents," he said.