Saudi Arabia: New Regulations for Taxis and App Drivers To Be in Force After 60 Days
The Ministry of Transport has approved amendments in the regulations governing taxis, guided cars and brokers, and the amendments will come into force after 60 days. Services for app drivers will be cancelled in the event of exceeding the number of cancelled trips five in a month.
Under the amendments, the license may be transferred from the city of its issuance to another city. However, new cars that have not previously been registered inside or outside the Kingdom will be exempted from this.
The amendments included three violations, and fines amounting to SR5000 will be imposed for each one of these violations. These include failure to continue to connected to the electronic systems; not preparing a policy to determine the percentage of the brokerage commission and the mechanism for its collection and application; and failure to provide the approved technological system with the required data.
The ministry stated that fines amounting to SR4000 will be slapped in the event of not enabling the driver to view the specific picking and dropping location of the trip before accepting or rejecting the request for the trip. SR 1,000 fine will be imposed for not stopping the provision of service to the driver for 30 days if the number of canceled trips exceeding five trips in a month.
The amendments stipulated setting up a mechanism to deliver lost items to their owners, as well as to make available the approved technological system with the required data, while continuing to link to electronic systems. It also envisages preparing a policy to determine the percentage of the brokerage commission and the mechanism for collecting it, placing it in a visible place in the licensee’s center and applying it.
The new amendments canceled providing the driver with the logo of the service provider’s application. It contains a barcode, which is placed in a prominent position in the car while providing the transportation service.
There is also amendment in the text to include a link to the Shomoos security system in the event of transportation between cities or outside the Kingdom. It also stipulated that the license would not be renewed in the event the authorized licensee did not achieve the minimum points calculated in measuring performance.
There are also amendments related to violations and these include employing a driver without obtaining a driver’s card and instead using a canceled driver’s card, operating a car with a canceled driver’s card without obtaining an operating card, not formulating a mechanism to deliver lost items to their owners, and failure to adhere to any of the instructions issued by the Transport General Authority.
