Fiji Taxi Association object to the Open Rank System

The Fiji Taxi Association has objected to the Open Rank System while the newly formed Fiji Cabbies Operators Association has welcomed the change.

The Taxi Association has more than 3,000 members while the Cabbies Association has about 30 members and they say they are growing.

The Open Taxi Ranks enables taxis to operate from any rank within their designated areas of operation on a first-in first-out basis or rotational basis.

It will come into effect from the 25th of April this year.

Fiji Taxi Association General Secretary, Ashwin Lal says they were hoping for more consultation on this change.

Lal says following this rule change, all the taxis will now want to operate from towns and cities and there will not be anyone to provide services in rural areas.

He says nearly all of their members have indicated that they will be severely affected.

Lal says the system should not be allowed to go ahead.

However Fiji Cabbies Operators Association General Secretary Sanjesh Lal says they had given their ideas and they hope their suggestions have been taken into consideration.

He says under the new rule, if a driver has been hired to go to a few locations, that driver will not be booked if he or she is waiting for the customer at that particular location. He says the rule change will benefit the drivers and it has been implemented in other countries.

Sanjesh Lal says the current law is 33 years old and a lot of things have changed in those years.

He also says the industry has been left behind with the changing times and is currently exploring options to implement online registration of members and use of mobile wallets like MPAiSA and MyCash for payments.