Saeed: Government leaning towards issuing taxi boards upon request

Minister of Economic Development, Mohamed Saeed has said the government was leaning towards making a decision on issuing taxi boards for taxi services on land upon request of interested parties.

In answer to a question by a member of People’s Majlis’ Budget Research Committee, Minister Saeed said there was currently a limit the number of secondary market taxi boards issued, which had pushed up the prices and created a barrier to people who wanted to join the taxi business.

“In the secondary market, taxi boards are sold for MVR 100,000 or MVR 200,000. This is a great concern for the general population and taxi drivers. It is practically impossible to get a taxi board,” said Saeed.

He said that a previous government had set a limit on the issuance of taxi boards without establishing a proper mechanism.

He said the current government wanted to issue taxi boards upon request.

“There is a certain set standard, in Male’ and other islands. So we are creating an efficient and convenient mechanism in line with that,” said Saeed.

Minister noted that new taxi boards would be cheaper than those available for sale in the secondary market.

He said the new ones included taxi boards for commercial vehicles as well as pickups.