MANILA - Commuters in Metro Manila may soon be able to hail regular metered taxis through mobile app HirNa, if its internal study finds enough demand in the capital, the app developer said Thursday.

Aside from HirNa, regulators on Wednesday also accredited Hype, which partners with private vehicles. The two firms set their sights on the ride-sharing market after Grab acquired erstwhile rival Uber's Southeast Asian operations.

• Grab blames high fares on demand spike

HirNa will not charge booking fees. It would adopt the rates of regular metered taxis with a flag down rate of P40 and an additional P13.50 for every kilometer and P2 for every minute of waiting time, said its founder and managing partner Coco Mauricio.

Grab has a P40 base fare, a rate per kilometer of P10 to P14 and a per-minute rate of P2, on top of surge charges.

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HirNa, however, cannot compete with the perks offered by Grab to drivers so it will only venture in Metro Manila if there is high consumer demand, Mauricio told DZMM.

• Regulators order Grab to cut surge fares

"During the next few days, titingnan talaga namin ang consensus, ano talaga ang gusto ng Metro Manila, kung talagang malaki ang demand and suporta na puwedeng ibigay sa amin," he said.

(During the next few days, we'll look at the consensus, what riders in Metro Manila want, and if how big is the big demand and support we can get.)

HirNa has launched its app in Davao City. It eyes operations in Iloilo, Bacolod, Baguio, Cagayan De Oro, Cebu and Pampanga, Mauricio said.

Four other companies have applied for accreditation as ride-hailing services: Hirna, Go Lag, Micab, and Ipara.