From January 21 (Friday) the tariff for all taxis operating from Dubai would be Dh1.71 per kilometre, replacing the current tariff of Dh1.60. However, the starting meter fare — which is currently at Dh3 during day time and Dh3.50 during night time — and the minimum fare of Dh10 would remain same.

Khaleej Times had reported last month the likely rise of taxi fares in early 2011, noting that the Public Transport Agency (PTA) was under considerable pressure from the franchises to take the step.

The decision comes following due deliberations over the continued demands of the franchise companies to increase the fares as operation costs, particularly the fuel price, have seen a twin rise over the last six months.

Announcing the decision, the CEO of PTA Eisa Abdul-Rahman Al Dosari said that the ‘marginal hike’ is a step to offset rising operation costs of the franchises and not a measure to boost revenues.

“Our hike is marginal compared to the increase in cost of fuel price and other resources over the last five years but we absorbed it for long and it was getting difficult for the franchises to provide the same quality of the service with the same fares after the recent hikes in fuel price,” said Al Dosari, noting that the decision was taken after a thorough study of all the pros and cons.

He also noted that the hike is negligible even when compared to other emirates where fares were increased immediately when the fuel price increased the second time last year.

Another senior official from PTA Mohammed Abu Baker Al Hashemi said that the agency has been very considerate towards all concerned parties in its attempt to deal fairly with both the operators as well as the customers.

“We took into consideration the prevailing economic condition, the absorbing power of the customers as well as the genuine concerns of the franchises and only after a lengthy deliberation we went for a slight hike,” said Al Hashemi, who is the Director of PTA’s strategic planning and business development department.

Achieving their goal after six months of relentless lobbying the franchises are happy with what they have got.

“It is very difficult to maintain the business in a healthy way with the current tariff as the cost continues to spiral up, but with the new tariff we should be able to provide better service,” said a representative of Metro Taxi, on conditions of anonymity.

He added that “though we didn’t get exactly what we were looking for, we are happy with the decision”.

According to the sources, the franchises were looking for a hike of between 15 to 20 fils, apart from demanding uniformity in certain services.

Among the demands put forward by the franchises are a common booking and dispatch centre for all the franchise taxis as well as permission to operate from the Dubai International Airport.

Currently only RTA operated Dubai Taxis are allowed to operate from the airport.

Though struggling to maintain its lead taxis are still the most favoured means of transport in Dubai. Around 8,000 taxis transport an average 140 million passengers in 80 million trips every year.

There are four franchises — Metro Taxi, Arabia Taxi, Cars Taxi and National Taxi — apart from the RTA operated Dubai Taxi.

shafaat@khaleejtimes.com

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