Taxi drivers renew protests as planned app fails to satisfy some

AMMAN — The Ministry of Transport’s (MoT) recent announcement to create an app for taxis on par with other ride-hailing apps failed to satisfy some drivers as they returned to protesting on Tuesday.

The renewed protests came after the ministry also gave Careem and Uber drivers one week, which ended on Thursday, to acquire operational licences for the sake of “fair competition”. However, some drivers called for a complete ban on Uber and Careem. 

“Our business will never go back to normal unless we are the only ones on the streets,” said Adil Neimi, a taxi driver in the Wehdat area.

Others expressed satisfaction with MoT’s initiatives and said they looked forward to the new app. “We are happy that our continuous protests have finally made an impact. I think that the future looks brighter for us,” said Khaled Mowashah, a taxi driver in Amman.

According to a report made available to The Jordan Times, the planned app will cost users 30 per cent less than Uber and Careem, and drivers will not have to pay registration fees when they sign up for the app. 

The report also stated that the Independent Taxi Drivers Association had several requests regarding regulations that will govern the app, among which was limiting the number of taxis allowed to sign up.

Some in the taxi business were left perplexed by the association’s request. “We have been asking for fair competition since the emergence of Uber and Careem, so it makes no sense to deny equality to people within our community,” Mowashah said.

Ahmed Rayyan, the owner of a taxi-renting bureau, added that “there are a number of countries that have all their taxis registered on one app, and the transportation systems there are affordable for the citizens and profitable for the drivers. Why should Jordan be any different?” 

People reacted to the taxi protests on social media, with many calling their demands to completely abolish Uber and Careem “selfish” and “unreasonable”.

“All they [taxi drivers] want is to monopolise private transport so they can go back to controlling people like they used to,” Areej Alfarrayeh commented on a post regarding the issue on Facebook.

“We are finally happy that we get comfortable, cheap and fast service. Why can’t they [taxi drivers] accept that we have found a better alternative?” Mary Torz, a Philippine worker residing in Amman, said in another post.