Taxi drivers hiked fares without ministry's approval

Taxi drivers started taking passengers with the hiked price they set on Friday evening.

Taxi centers and their drivers had requested the government to increase the set far for rides as the oil prices have also increased. However, when the government did not respond to this request, they said they decided to start driving with the rate they had set themselves.

Numerous taxi drivers had been protesting, calling to increase the price since Thursday evening. The government had failed to respond to their demands within the time they had asked for, the taxi drivers had said.

“Since they had not responded to the price we set, we have decided to implement the price ourselves. We are now taking rides at these prices,” a taxi driver advocating for higher fares had told Mihaaru news.

He said the increased price would be put in a visible manner to all passengers in the taxi. Therefore, if a passenger is taking a ride with them, they would have seen the price and have agreed to it, meaning that the government would not have any grounds to interfere, they said.

“The prices should be visible. Passengers will be able to travel only if they agree to the price. The police even will not have any way to take action then. The legal counsel we sought had adviced to take these action,” he had told Mihaaru.

A taxi center in Male' city said that many drivers do not wish to travel at any other price. The center said regardless of whether the government approves or not, they cannot take rides against the drivers wishes.

"We have set MVR 30 as the price for trips inside Male'. The government has not agreed to this price yet. If the passenger and the driver come to an agreement on the price, they can take the trip. It's not possible otherwise, " the taxi centre said.

The increased fare by taxi drivers

- Trips within Male' for MVR 30

- Trips within Hulhumale' Phase One for MVR 25

- Trips within Hulhumale' Phase Two for MVR 25

- Trips from Male' to Hulhumale' for MVR 100

- Trips from Male' to Velana International Airport for MVR 80

- Trips from Hulhumale' Phase Two to Male' for MVR 120

- Trips from Hulhumale' Phase One to Phase Two for MVR 40

- Trips from Male' and Hulhumale' to the Seaplane Terminal for for MVR 100

- Trips from Hulhumale' Phase Two to Seaplane Terminal for MVR 120