Taxi drivers to get 88% of earnings

“They should pass the mandatory medical tests and the vehicle’s life must not exceed five years and the engine capacity should not be less than 1.8 litres,” said Mwasalat, in a notice issued by the transportation company.

Ahmed bin Ali Al Bulushi expects 500 taxi drivers to join them. “So far 130 taxis from the airport and about 250 in malls and on-call have agreed to be part of Mwasalat. Initially there should be 350 to 500 taxis by the end of this year, or early next year,” he said. Mwasalat is recruiting teams as it works to launch the new service and liaising with different authorities, such as the Ministry of Transport and Communication, ROP and the Oman Airports Management Company.

However, airport taxi drivers are not very happy. “We don’t mind the taxi fares to start from OMR3 but Mwasalat is asking us to give 12 per cent of our daily collection. This is unfair as they will not be doing anything. They will be just managing us. So 12 per cent of our share is very high,” Mohammed, an airport taxi driver said.

Mwasalat’s CEO also confirmed that the taxi drivers will get 88 per cent of the total earnings. “In 12 per cent, Mwasalat will just recover the cost of employees, technology and training,” Al Bulushi said.

However, the drivers are willing to pay some money to Mwasalat, “but it has to be yearly or monthly and not a percentage from our daily earnings,” another airport taxi driver said.

Justifying the high fares, one cab driver said that Oman’s airport taxis provided a luxurious service with the latest cars. “That is one of the reasons we charge more than the other GCC countries,” he said. Citizens and residents are, however, very happy. “Currently, the airport taxi fares are too much and people think twice before taking it, so it is a great idea to bring it down to OMR3,” Sushma, an Indian expat living in Oman said.

According to the UBS Prices and Earnings 2015 report, the Norwegian capital of Oslo has the most expensive taxi fares in the world, where a five-kilometre ride will cost $32 (OMR13.2).

Oslo is closely followed by Zurich $27.59 (OMR10.5), Luxembourg $22.34 (OMR8.5), Geneva $20.58 (OMR 7.8), Auckland $19.72 (OMR7.5), Stockholm $18.56 (OMR7.1), Montreal $17.57 (OMR6.7), Milan $17.3 (OMR6.6) and Amsterdam $16.22 (OMR6.2). Among the Gulf countries, Dubai and Doha are included in the UBS Prices and Earnings 2015 report.