The General Manager of the Ghana Cooperative Transport Association, Daniel Yaw Amponsah has posited that the ‘No Taxis Allowed’ inscription hung at the premises of some state and international institutions has given ride hailing services a competitive edge over them.
He admits that their yellow fenders which sought to distinguish them from other road users is now preventing them from driving their passengers to certain places, “and that is our problem.”
Per his investigation, the ‘No Taxis Allowed’ inscription was introduced because these institutions fear taxi drivers will transport criminal figures to their premises. “They say that the driver will deny knowledge of knowing the passenger. They also argue that drivers cause noise pollution by tooting their car horns. If it is about noise, they should just tell us to stop tooting and stop treating commercial drivers as 2nd class citizens.”
He added that most taxis used for crimes are snatched from the drivers and defended, “our drivers are not criminals.”
Sharing some benefits of taxis over ride hailing services, he stated that fares charged by taxis are fixed whereas prices of ride hailing services fluctuate. “When it comes to taxi fares it is all about bargaining power. Once a fare is settled on, it goes unchanged unlike ride hailing services.”
Admitting that ride hailing services have affected the taxi business, he also revealed some taxi drivers had switched to these ride hailing services while section of this group have switched back to operating their taxis.
Daniel Yaw Amponsah made this known in a special edition of the Epa Hoa Daben political show’s community engagement programme, dubbed “Happy on Wheels.”
Ride hailing services are apps that connect passengers and local drivers using their personal vehicles. In most cases they are a comfortable method for door-to-door transport.
The apps typically use your phone’s GPS to automatically determine your pick-up location, while the destination is manually input.
Most of the apps also allow riders to rate their drivers.
Taxi drivers are subject to strict background checks and need special insurance on their car, while ride hailing services have much lighter standards for both of those.
There are a lot of regulations and fees that taxis have to go through to operate that ride hailing services do not. Thus, ride hailing services have an unfair advantage over taxis.
