Ride-hailing options in the Philippines have been pretty limited to Grab after Uber left the region, but now, it looks like a new ride-hailing app is joining. Meet, Tara a so-called cheaper option as detailed by its owner Erwin Dee in a post on Facebook.

“Tara is not just another ride-hailing app that tries to be everything for everyone. Tara is the beacon of change the ride-hailing industry has been waiting for.”

Erwin Dee, Tara Founder

Tara, the Ride Hailing App

Dee reveals that the idea started as a way to fill the gap in the ride-hailing industry while offering cheaper fares and implementing zero commission from its drivers. It is the result of 9 months of research and development.

Its fares are based on the LTFRB (Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board) fare matrix with no surcharges. This is how he plans to implement it:

• 4-seater base – PHP 45 + PHP 15 per km + PHP 2 per minute
• 6-seater base – PHP 55 + PHP 18 per km + PHP 2 per minute

Additionally, he reveals that the ride-hailing service will be subscription-based rather than commission-based. This means, subscribers ‘pay a modest and affordable fee for access to the service’. There are three price points for these subscriptions – Basic, Regular, and Partner.

Basic is priced at PHP 30 and gives you 3 tokens which allows you to complete 3 Bookings or which converts to PHP 10 per booking. The Regular subscription is PHP 300 and earns you 30 tokens or 30 bookings. Lastly, the Partner tier is priced at PHP 3,000 or 300 bookings.

Drivers and users will be on an invite-only system for an extra layer of security. Meanwhile, drivers will be able to filter bookings according to their preferences.

Tara, according to the LTFRB, has yet to register for its accreditation and if they do operate without this, the motor vehicles will be impounded and the company will incur around PHP 50,000 per unit.

“Walang accreditation po ang Tara. If they will operate, we will impound their motor vehicles,” LTFRB Chief Jojo Guadiz told SPOT.ph.“The penalty is about P50,000 for each unit. And they will be barred from any accreditation.”

According to Dee, the Tara pap will be available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store soon but you can join the Facebook group for announcements and invite codes.

Sources 1, 2