Ministry starts giving permits for private taxi service

Fatima Muhammad JEDDAH — The Ministry of Transport announced on Tuesday that it will allow taxi services using private cars to operate in the Kingdom, but said Saudi drivers should be given priority. Various companies were running the service without proper license and the ministry has allowed them to operate on condition that they register with the ministry. The ministry launched its Wasil online porter that will collect data of drivers and their vehicles and make them available to security officials. The ministry decided to organize the transportation sector by giving licenses to companies and allowing Saudis to work for them using individually-owned cars, according to a ministry statement received by Saudi Gazette. All companies and drivers must be registered in the ministry's system, it said. The move comes as part of efforts to organize the taxi service to meet increasing demand and overcome possible security problems, said the statement. The ministry is cooperating with other government bodies to implement the new strategy. The priority for employment in these companies goes to Saudis looking for jobs, students and people holding part-time jobs. The statement clarified that the move comes to combat arbitrary movement of vehicles inside cities. The ministry called on all companies operating in the Kingdom who still did not obtain licenses to apply at the ministry within the next three months. A company source told Saudi Gazette that about 10 companies have already been issued license. "The move to organize the Saudi drivers using personal vehicles is very crucial and it is way better than the mess that is happening now," he said.