09 Oct 2006
Dubai: Residents have been warned against using private cars as taxis or using car-lift services because it is illegal.
"Anyone using a private car as a taxi or offering a car-pooling service is violating the law, which came into force in 2004," said Thani Saeed Al Falasi, Director of the Licensing and Quality Control Department at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
He said that those using their private cars as illegal taxis or offer car-lift services were being penalised. However, no action is taken against passengers.
"Passengers using such illegal means of transportation should avoid it because they may be compromising on safety just to save some money," Al Falasi said.
He added that drivers of these illegal taxis are not trained to work as taxi drivers and it can be a security risk for passengers.
The Dubai Taxi Department has collected around Dh30 million in fines from illegal taxi operators from when the law was enforced in early 2004 until August this year.
The department's inspectors are on the roads round-the-clock to check for illegal taxis or car-lifts. A fine of Dh2,500 is slapped on the violator.
Some 5,390 fines were issued in 2004 on operators of illegal taxis and car-pooling services. The violations increased to 7,806 in 2005 and 7,018 violations in the first eight months of 2006 were recorded, which shows the trend is increasing and more people are operating illegal taxis despite heavy penalties.
People use illegal taxis and car-lifts because taxis are very expensive and a proper public transport system is not in place. Illegal taxis cost roughly 25 to 30 per cent of the actual taxi fare.
Al Falasi said that illegal taxis are popular because they are cheaper. "There are two kinds of illegal taxis. Some people drive around the city in their private cars and provide illegal taxi service while some people offer organised car-lifts or car-pooling services taking passengers from their homes to work on a regular basis. They charge passengers on weekly or monthly basis," he said. He clarified that both types of service are illegal.
"There are no restrictions on friends sharing a car without paying any money," he said.
He said that the department's inspectors were experienced enough to know whether passengers are using car-lift or just sharing with a friend.
For illegal taxi operators, he said, the inspectors stop such cars while picking a passenger.
Illegal taxis or car-lifts are more popular with passengers coming from Sharjah to Dubai. "We don't have any problem if they bring passengers from Sharjah but we do not allow an illegal taxi to pick up passengers in Dubai," Al Falasi clarified.
By Ashfaq Ahmed
Gulf News 2006. All rights reserved.
