Taxis will be the subject of discussion in Shoura Council's upcoming session on Monday. A proposal has been made to add a new chapter that will deal specifically with taxis to the public transport regulation. Shoura Council member Maj. Gen. Muhammad Abu Saq is presenting the proposal, which has eight articles aimed at filling the regulatory vacuum and imbalance found in the current transport system. Present regulations only deal with transportation in buses and not with that in small cars, Alyawm reported Wednesday. Sources told the Arabic daily that the new articles are summarized in Article 12, which states that transporting passengers in small cars (taxis) can be considered part of the public transport facility. Taxis should operate within a specific area and on certain routes and they should be available to any person in return for a fare. Article 13 First: Taxis should be operated by Saudi individuals or companies that are fully owned by Saudi nationals based on a system specified by the regulation. Second: All the work of the companies must be carried out by qualified Saudi employees, technicians and drivers as per the certificates and clear conditions specified by the regulation. Non-Saudis can be employed provided they hold residence permits in the Kingdom, as stipulated by the regulation. Article 14 The regulation will specify the number of taxis that can operate in the Kingdom's cities and governorates; the quota is updated every five years. Article 15 First: A license to work as a taxi driver should not be granted unless the driver passes a theoretical and practical training course. The course should last at least three months and must cover the conditions and duties of driving taxi in the Kingdom. This includes knowing the maps of cities and traffic regulation in the country, besides having the skill required for practicing the profession. The regulation specifies the conditions for obtaining a license. Second: Taxis are considered the cultural front of the country. In this regard, drivers and companies bear the responsibility for achieving this and the regulation explains the skills required. Article 16 It is not allowed to make a taxi driver work for more than 10 hours in a day. The company must have an updated record which supervisors can check. The regulation specifies the way supervisors must monitor the performance of individual drivers who own taxis. Article 17 First: The Ministry of Transport should establish an institute to train private taxi drivers. The institute will hold training courses for taxi drivers and keep information and a database. It will contribute in improving the performance of people practicing this profession at the national level through an annual work plan specified by the regulation. Second: The regulation will specify the safety and regulatory criteria for vehicles. It will make it obligatory on individuals and companies to maintain the safety of their vehicles and check their condition regularly. Article 18 It is not allowed to transport passengers without using the taxi fare meter according to the charges approved by the ministry. The regulation will specify the detailed technical conditions for taxi meters. Article 19 Saudi drivers and technicians should gradually replace expatriates in the existing companies within a period of not more than two years from the date of issuance of this regulation. In addition, the ministry should lay down a tight plan for monitoring the implementation of this article. The proposal reveals the low standard of existing public transport in the Kingdom and the control of expatriate drivers and employees over the taxi transport sector. Furthermore, it stressed that non-Saudis controlling this important sector has deprived tens of thousands of Saudi nationals from employment, hence contributing in increasing the unemployment rate among Saudis.
