The Drivers Association of Maldives (DAM) has called for equality between the government's Taxi Line and private taxi services and to not have discrimination between the two to relevant administrations yesterday.
As the government has introduced the Male' Taxi Line service, the DAM's statement that was released states that they are concerned with the services offered by the Male' Taxi Line as they were going against the Taxi Regulations.
The association also stated that the government is offering taxi services while making all drivers and taxi centers comply, with them going against the regulations set by the government itself as well.
The statement reads that drivers have highlighted some of the articles in the regulations.
"While private taxi centers, companies operating via taxi applications and taxi drivers are being regulated via strict regulations and are being given hefty fines, we note that the government is operating the taxi service while going against the regulations that have been written up," as was written in the statement.
"It has been revealed that they are conducting their services in violation of Taxi Regulations (Number R-132/2022) Article 7 (A) and Article 11 (A), (B), (C) and (D)."
According to the DAM, trust in the regulatory framework is lost due to the "unfair" actions in enforcing the regulations.
While the DAM has stated that the Male' Taxi Line is being run against the regulation, the association has highlighted some other concerns as well, one of them being the issue of a decrease in revenue for private taxi drivers with the introduction of the government's taxi service.
Drivers have said that the introduction of the Male' Taxi Line has caused great losses to the revenue of private drivers.
While stating that there is a direct link between the industry and the income of hundreds of Maldivian families, the association has shared their concern that equality and justice have been lost when a government company entered into the industry.
The association said that the decision to make the taxi line's service free-of-charge until the application is up and running has resulted in irreparable losses to the drivers' revenue in a time the economy is struggling.
"The Drivers Association of Maldives believes that the government should not directly enter into a competitive business that can interfere with the earnings citizens are working for by themselves," as was written in the statement.
The association had expressed that they were against the government's idea of them starting such a service. Nevertheless, the government stated that they began the taxi service due to the high volume of complaints regarding the public not being able to get taxi services in Male' and Hulhumale'. The issue of people not being able to get a taxi within Male' and some drivers only taking trips between Male' and Hulhumale' has risen quite a bit.
