Plan for new cab registration hits roadblock
KATHMANDU:
The government’s plan to allow operation of new taxis has hit a major roadblock, with the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE) piling pressure to only replace old cabs instead of opening the registration for new ones.
On Monday, in a meeting held to discuss permitting entry of new cabs in Bagmati zone, the transporters federation put the demand for allowing new cabs in replacement only for 20-year-old taxis. It was the first meeting of a committee formed under the director general of Department of Transport Management (DoTM) to recommend the government about allowing registration of new cabs.
Replacement of old taxis with new ones would mean that the number of cabs will not go up and the same old entrepreneurs will have the right to operate the service.
“There was a heated discussion during the meeting as transporters were against allowing registration of new taxis,” said a source at DoTM.
The committee comprises president of FNNTE, technical director of DoTM and senior divisional engineer of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) as members.
After facing criticism of favouring syndicate, MoPIT had formed the committee with a mandate to recommend the number of cabs to be added, type, capacity and operation models, among others.
“The fact that the discussion has started is good, but as it was our first meeting, nothing concrete came out of it,” said Madhusudan Burlakoti, director general of DoTM. He added that the committee would again meet and discuss over the issue.
The government has not issued any new registrations to taxis in Bagmati zone since the last 15 years after it was halted in May 2000. At the time, there were around 9,000 taxis and the population of Kathmandu Valley was 1.6 million. Now, the population in the Valley is estimated to have surged to around four million and road networks too have significantly gone up. It is estimated that there are 5,500-plus taxis in
operation in Kathmandu Valley at present.
Last month, Tulasi Prasad Sitaula, secretary of MoPIT, had told The Himalayan Times that the ministry would take the decision regarding registration of new taxis based on the recommendation of the committee.
As there has been a long gap, MoPIT has been mulling over registering 2,500 to 3,000 new taxis focusing on the Valley, by involving public companies instead of individual owners.
Consumer rights activists have stressed on the need to displace old taxis from the Valley or scrapping them and also allow new cabs to create competition. But, taxientrepreneurs have said that entry of new cabs would affect their business, which has already been hit due to other public transport services being available even in inner routes of the Valley.
Majority of existing taxis are over 15 years old and consumers are often forced to pay extra fare despite low quality service
Source: THT
