Taxi association urges delivery on promised raise of ride-hailing fares

AMMAN — The decision to change pricing for ride-hailing applications has still not been implemented and the fares of yellow taxis and ride-hailing vehicles remain the same, the Taxi Drivers Association said recently.

Agreed upon by the Land and Transport Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Transport at the end of February, the decision stipulates that the fares of ride-hailing apps be increased by 30 per cent in two stages, vice president of the association Ahmad Judu told The Jordan Times on Thursday. 

The first stage, which was planned to be introduced at the beginning of March, increases fares by 20 per cent, while the second stage introduces a 10-per cent increase, Judu said. 

However, the association, along with its taxi drivers, is still waiting for the decision to be put into effect, he noted. 

“Taxi drivers must be given priority,” Judu said on Thursday, noting that the taxi sector is "falling apart" due to ride-hailing applications’ promotional offers to attract riders and their “extremely” competitive prices.

Even with permits, ride-hailing applications remain “contrary to the Kingdom’s traffic laws”, which prohibit the use of private vehicles as public ones, he said.

Ride-hailing applications are also "not in line with” investment legislation, Judu claimed, as they negatively impact the taxi sector, given the “vast price differences” in buying yellow taxis and private vehicles, which can also be used as private cars.

“Hailing applications’ drivers could get a brand new car for under JD20,000, but this doesn’t apply to yellow taxis,” he added.

According to a statement from the association vice president to The Jordan Times in December, the price of a yellow taxi is approximately JD40,000.

Ride-hailing companies recently decided to increase their profit percentage from ride fares, according to Samir Akaileh, a member of the ride-hailing application drivers' dialogue committee, Captain Care. 

A week ago, ride hailing apps including Careem and Uber increased their profit percentages to 30 per cent from 25 per cent, an increase that occurs yearly, Akaileh said. 

According to Akaileh, companies are also lowering their prices at the expense of their drivers, “causing a decrease in the quality of services”.

He told The Jordan Times over the phone on Thursday that the company percentage increase has “harmed” ride-hailing app drivers.

"Drivers for ride-hailing apps and taxi drivers are both struggling, especially under the Kingdom’s difficult economic conditions,” Akaileh said.