Fahd Bin Jleid
Al-Jazirah
The Transport Ministry’s dealing with the smart taxi app reminds us of an individual who overtook the wheel of time and got up abruptly to demand angrily that the clock must be reversed, instead of trying to cope with the technological advancement.
It is quite shocking that the ministry found out the app violated the Kingdom’s regulations two years after it was introduced to the Kingdom’s transport market. It has also discovered that those who manage the app and drive smart taxis do not possess necessary licenses to do so.
It has been pointed out that the promoters and drivers of smart taxis are foreigners who do not comply with the ministry’s regulations that are applied on Saudis. An unemployed foreign worker could transform a car into a smart taxi after purchasing the app.
We understand the ministry’s fears but there is an important point that it should have used to solve the riddle of this app, which can generate millions of riyals in revenue for the state. The ministry should have developed an alternative app that will force the former to get a license to operate in the Kingdom or leave the market.
In my opinion, the Transport Ministry requires the intelligence of a youth who welcomes technological progress to convert it into reality on our roads and streets, making use of the smart system already in use to call a cab, instead of threatening service providers with punishment.
The smart application can be activated on the basis of rules and regulations set out by the ministry to deal with such services easily and quickly without the need for all this time, and any further delay will result in greater losses and more concerns.
It will hard for the users to return to square one after enjoying the facilities offered by the smart taxi app for so long and instead seek the service in the street. We have to accept the new app if we want to employ thousands of Saudis as drivers of smart taxis all over the Kingdom, on condition that the new service should be restricted to Saudi drivers.
