Govt taxi service not to minimise private drivers, says Ameen

Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen has said that a taxi service is not being started by the government to drive out anyone from the business.

The government has announced a program called Male Fehi to launch a modern, safe and reliable taxi service in the Male area. Following this news, taxi drivers had met Ameen earlier to express their dissatisfaction with the government's attempt to interfere in the taxi business.

At a press conference held on Thursday, Ameen said that a taxi service is being launched to strengthen the taxi system and make it better for both the users and the service providers.

He said the most important purpose is to provide reliable taxi services to the general public.

"That will include the introduction of new taxis, introducing a certain level of taxi. That includes the safety and security of both the passenger and the taxi driver," he said.

He said it has not yet been decided whether the taxi system will be set up through a government SOE or through a contract.

“One thing we are sure of is that we can ensure three things within a better system than the current one,” he said.

The three things, according to the minister:

“Based on these three bases, we are now in the process of finding out which model is the best,” he said.

The Male Fehi program, about the taxi service, says:

It did not give a specific date for the launch of the service.