Malé, Maldives – The Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation stated today that action will be taken against taxi drivers who do not adhere to the recently released taxi fare guide.
The Ministry highlighted that they received a petition by taxi drivers signed by 16 taxi centres regarding the spike in oil prices. Transport Ministry stated that the Ministry has to take into account both the public and taxi service provider’s rights when it comes to setting guidelines.
Only the Transport Ministry has the authority to set taxi fare. Not taxi centres
Transport Ministry statement
The Ministry stated that they will find immediate solutions to some issues highlighted by the taxi drivers and will discuss others with the drivers to find solutions.
Will take action against drivers who take fares higher than those set by the Ministry
Taxi drivers resumed services on Saturday after a hiatus to protest. The prices set by the drivers,
- Inside Malé: MVR 30 (driver’s rate), MVR 25 (gov rate)
- Malé – Hulhumalé Phase I: MVR 100 (driver’s rate), MVR 75 (gov rate)
- Malé – Hulhumalé Phase II: MVR 120 (driver’s rate), MVR 90 (gov rate)
- Malé – Seaplane Terminal: MVR 100 (driver’s rate), MVR 100 (gov rate)
- Malé – Velana International Airport: MVR 80 (driver’s rate), MVR 60 (gov rate)
- Inside Hulhumalé Phase I or II: MVR 25 (driver’s rate), MVR 25 (gov rate)
- Hulhumalé Phase I – Phase II: MVR 40 (driver’s rate), MVR 40 (gov rate)
- Hulhumalé Phase II – Seaplane Terminal MVR 120 (driver’s rate), MVR 120 (gov rate)
In addition, Transport Ministry guideline states that the an additional MVR 5 will be charged for trips between 00:00 to 06:00. Charging extra for baggage is illegal.
While the taxi drivers had been protesting against the government set cab fare rates, the public has been calling the government to improve the public transport system to alleviate the dependency on taxis.
The authorities also threatened to take action against taxi drivers last week.
