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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

52 per cent drop in new taxis

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MUSCAT, Oct 20 - Taxis continue to bear the brunt of the current lull in the automobile market in Oman. Testifying the fact is a massive fall of over 52 per cent in the registration of taxis in August this year compared with the same month in 2017. This difference is more than 22 per cent in the first eight months of the current year when the taxi registration saw a drop of 30 per cent, showing they are no more a major bread-earner. “It is not just because of the introduction of alternative transport arrangements like Mwasalat or other taxi services. The new generation of Omanis is changing their outlook as far as their professional life is concerned,” said Khalid al Balushi, a human resource specialist.


According to him, many taxi drivers till recently included retired employees or people with less education. Even those who were on government payrolls were also doing part-time taxi service. “Most of them are leaving their taxis as they are no more found to be lucrative as they were before,” Khalid said. Talal, a taxi driver in Ruwi, said passengers travelling in taxis have dropped more than 50 per cent in the recent past. “There are no people to travel in taxis. Most of them now resort to buses to reach their workplace or other destinations,” he said.


In June this year, two companies were awarded licenses by the Ministry of Transport and Communications to operate taxis in the capital on a condition that meters are installed to calculate fares. Data from National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), shows only 21 taxis were registered in August this year out of a total of 4,425 vehicles in the same month. According to NCSI, there has been a 38.6 per cent fall in the total number of new vehicles that came on the roads. The number of private vehicles topped the list of registrations in August 2018, reaching 3,041 vehicles, down 45.6 per cent from the same period of 2017.


This was followed by commercial vehicles, which numbered 1,021, down 10.8 per cent from the figure recorded in the same period last year. As for diplomatic vehicles, only three were registered, while 10 government vehicles were registered in August 2018. This is a drop of 72.7 per cent and 16.7 per cent, respectively, compared with 2017.  The number of driving school vehicles registered reached 17, and only one tractor was registered in August this year.


SAMUEL KUTTY


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