Muscat: After several attempts in the past, the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology (MTCIT) has once again a fresh decision to streamline and regulate the public transport services in the country.
From June 1, all Orange and White taxi drivers will charge their clients or passengers based on the fares calculated by the Aber digital or mobile fare meter.
The Ministry seeks to regulate the activity of taxis in the Sultanate of Oman as per the provisions of Ministerial Resolution 195/2018 issued on December 26, 2018, regarding determining the transportation tariff for taxis," an official statement said.
In 2018, the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MoTC) announced the decision to implement fare meters but it was never fully implemented. Passengers have welcomed the arrival of metered taxis, but want the fares to be reasonable.
“People will accept a reasonable fare. If not illegal operators will continue to thrive and eat into the business of genuine operators,” an expatriate employee from Bausher said.
Several expatriates with low-income wages welcomed the decision to have taxis with meters but argued that the new fare structure will cost them more even if it is on a sharing basis.
"We have been hearing about the launch meter taxis for several years and somewhat it never happened due to various reasons, including the exorbitant fare structure and high operating costs for drivers. I am hoping that it will click this time and prices will get competitive gradually," said Sakir Ahmed, an expatriate sales executive who travels to Mabela from Ruwi on a regular basis in a shared taxi.
Speaking to Observer, some taxi operators wanted more interaction with the authorities before June 1 so that the system can be implemented successfully. "We have a concern with the new fares and also the penalties if there is a complaint filed by customers."
This time, the decision is expected to succeed as several on-demand taxi companies are currently operating in the country, which permits instant or advance booking.
Licenses were issued after these companies fulfilled the requirements and provisions of the regulation of the Land Transport Law, as part of the Ministry's efforts to regulate the activity of taxis in the Sultanate, especially in Muscat and other cities.
On-demand taxi services provide facilities such as tracking and fixed prices that are specified before the trip while ensuring privacy and security for the user.
The Aber digital meter will be used only in street taxis while the on-demand services will operate as per the pre-determined fares in line with the regulations of the ministry.
"All Orange and White street taxis will be operated using the newly launched Aber taxi meter mobile app, where fares and distance will be calculated. All formalities have been completed and the service will be launched soon," Eng Khamis bin Mohammed bin Abdullah al Shamakhi, Undersecretary for transportation, told the Observer earlier.
With regard to rates, the starting fare of 300bz will be set on the meter at the beginning of the trip, 130 bz will be added to the fare after every 1km while 50bz will be added as a waiting period after the free 5 minutes of waiting.
Driver is obligated to use the meter at the start of the trip, otherwise, the entire journey will be deemed free.
In the case of multiple passengers, the fare will be equally divided between them.
While the decision to implement operate all taxis as per fare meters has been implemented several times in the past, it did not succeed due to resistance from
taxi drivers who questioned the high cost involved in installing such meters, apart from the regular maintenance costs.
"The new app-based meter will address those issues and we expect cooperation also from the customers, who should ensure that drivers operate as per regulations and report any violations," sources in the ministry said.
The process of revamping the Orange taxi services has begun, including the installation of electronic fare meters.
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