Minister: It takes 8 minutes to get a taxi via phone call, app will minimize issues

Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed states that the launch of a mobile app will help minimize flaws with the Male’ Taxi Line, the chief of which is the long wait time for customers who call to get a taxi.

The Male’ Taxi Line, a 24/7 public taxi service operated by the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company (MTCC), was launched on April 2. Customers could initially book rides only by calling the 1655 hotline, but the company later launched a dedicated web portal following mounting complaints that calls weren’t going through.

At a press briefing on Thursday morning, Saeed told reporters that the average wait time for Male’ Taxi Line is eight minutes and four seconds.

“They [the MTCC] tell me that it takes 8.4 minutes between when a customer calls and when they get a taxi. And the average duration of a trip is 12.2 minutes,” he said.

Saeed said that a dedicated mobile application will help minimize issues with the service.

He said that the App Store has approved the app, and that it will be available for download this week or the next.

Saeed said that the Male’ Taxi Line is currently unable to respond to all calls made to the hotline, due to the sheer volume of calls that come in each day.

He said that the Male’ Taxi Line provided 11,128 rides between April 13 and April 18, and has been seeing a 50 percent increase in rides daily since the launch of the service.

The government had launched the Male’ Taxi Line to address difficulties in getting taxis in the capital. However, people continue to complain that service hasn’t produced the desired results, and that people are still facing difficulties in getting taxis, especially on rainy days.

The Male’ Taxi Line has a fleet of 150 electric vehicles, including smaller cars that can navigate the narrow roads of Male’, and larger vehicles designed to transport passengers and luggage.