Govt criticised for favouring taxi syndicate
KATHMANDU:
After facing criticism for favouring syndicate in transport sector, the government looks a bit serious to allow operation of new taxis in the Capital. The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) has sought recommendation from a committee to determine the number of cabs to be added, type and operation models, among others.
It was 15 years back in May 2000 that the government stopped registration of new taxis in Bagmati Zone. At the time, there were around 9,000 taxis and the population of Kathmandu Valley was 1.6 million. Now, the population is expected to have reached around four million and the road network too has significantly gone up, underlining the need for additional cabs.
“A committee under the coordination of director general of Department of Transport Management (DoTM) is expected to recommend us within a week on how to introduce new taxis,” said Tulasi Prasad Sitaula, secretary at MoPIT. “We will move ahead as per the suggestion of the committee.”
There are currently more than 5,500 taxis in operation in the Valley. A majority of them are over 15 years old, for which consumers are being forced to pay fares for low quality service and in majority of cases, cab operators also refuse to provide service based on the government fixed fare. The addition of new taxis is expected to create competition in service operation and provide quality service to consumers.
The committee, which comprises MoPIT officials and transport entrepreneurs, will suggest the government on the number of units to be added, the vehicle types, capacity, and operation modality. However, a source at MoPIT said that as there is also representation of transporters in the recommendation committee, its suggestion might not be fully in favour of consumers.
“Not allowing registration of new taxis till date is also like promoting syndicate by the government itself as it has restricted competition,” the official added.
Currently, individual owners are operating taxis and it is estimated that a taxi owner, who invested Rs 500,000 in 2000 has earned over Rs seven million over the period of last 15 years, if only the daily average payment of Rs 1,300 (Rs 600 for day and Rs 700 for night operation) to the owner by a driver is to be considered. There is also an ill-practice of selling registered numbers of old taxis at over Rs one million and selling the old taxis in other zones for Rs 200,000.
Ram Bahadur Thapa, who has lodged a complaint on ending syndicate in taxi service at the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, MoPIT and DoTM said that the government must allow operation of new taxis.
“The current taxi fare is also expensive and it should be brought down to Rs 20 per km from existing rate of Rs 36 per km and the flag down charge of Rs 14 should be terminated,” stated a complaint filed by Thapa at DoTM.
As per him, on average a taxi runs 20 km on one litre of petrol, which currently costs Rs 109 per litre. This means considering the fare fixed by the government, a cab driver earns Rs 720 after 20 km ride and this earning does not include flag down cost of Rs 14, which is charged from each customer taking the ride.
Earlier, MoPIT had also considered introducing a cab system permitting only institutions registered as public company. It had targeted adding 2,500 to 3,000 new taxis in Bagmati Zone. However, the plan did not move ahead effectively because the transporters objected to the idea of registering new taxis citing that existing taxis are finding it difficult to make substantial earnings due to high competition in transport services and operation of larger public vehicles in inner city routes, the MoPIT source said.
Source: THT
