While the Sultanate of Oman has made rapid strides in streamlining the public transport facilities, especially taxi services in the past decade, there seems to be some work to do so on this front.
The app-based on-demand taxi services have taken off well and seem to have established themselves to some extent and the efforts to regulate street taxis seem to have hit a roadblock.
Speaking to Observer, Mohammed, a taxi operator based, said, “I am associated with one of the taxi companies and use metre with our users. But, when it comes to picking up passengers from the roads, we do not use the mobile-based metre (Aber) to determine fares and still follow the traditional system based on negotiations with passengers.”
He added, “The obvious reason is that the taxi owners have not agreed to operate under a company as mandated by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology.”
A top official at Otaxi, one of the licenced companies and the market leader, confirmed to Observer that the situation has not changed regarding the Orange and White Street taxis.”
While app-based taxis offer reliable service and even offer card payments, getting a street taxi for the right fare is still a challenge.
“Firstly, I felt that the on-demand service is not possible without a local SIM and the street operators do not offer a fare structure, with fares on the high side even for a short distance,” said a German tourist.
The Otaxi official added, “It is possible to use without the local pain, but sometimes local operators block for some technical reasons.”
Earlier, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MoTCIT) had directed all Orange and White taxis operating must join the licenced company before January 1, 2024.
The MoTCIT planned to streamline street Orange and White taxis in the country, which was to operate as per a mobile-based metre called Aber.
The new guidelines stipulated that to practice taxi activity, a light driving licence must be 3 years old from the date of issuance, and the operator’s monthly salary must not exceed RO 600 if an employee is in the private sector.
The age must not be less than 21 years and not more than 60 years. One-year extensions can be given based on a medical report from accredited health institutions indicating his ability to drive a taxi.
It also required that the age of the taxi vehicle must not exceed 7 years from the date of the year of manufacture to carry out operations at airports, ports, and hotels while the age of the taxi vehicles should not exceed 10 years from the date of the year of manufacture to practice the activity in the public places and commercial centres.
The Ministry stressed the need for everyone to reconcile their situation before September 1, 2024.
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