Taxis notified to fit vacancy signs by April 15

The Transport Authority of Maldives has notified taxis to place a sign on top of the car to indicate vacancy to passengers before April 15 2014, reported local media Sun Online.

“The light-up taxi boards have to fit the authority’s standards. Places producing or selling these taxi boards will have a special permit issued by this authority,” Sun Online reported the authority as saying.

Taxi regulations, published on 16 December 2013, imposed fixed taxi fees of MVR25 per trip between 6:00 a.m. and 12:00 a.m. and MVR30 per trip between 12:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.

In addition to these regulations, taxi drivers are obligated to have on display their name and the contact details of their taxi centres.

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New taxi regulation raises maximum fares to MVR25

The Transport Authority of Maldives has gazetted a new taxi regulation, changing the maximum fare from MVR20 to MVR25. Maximum fares from midnight to 6:00am will be MVR30.

An extra MVR5 can be charged for a single item of luggage put in the trunk of the taxi, and MVR10 for more than one item.

Taxi centers are yet to decide upon changing the fare to this amount. In the past, all centers have changed fares together. One taxi driver talking to Minivan News said he is still charging MVR20 during unsociable hours, but hopes that all centers will agree to a fixed fare as soon as possible.

The new regulation prohibits both taxi drivers and customers from playing any audio or video without permission from each other, with the exception of mobile phones and communications set in the taxi.

The new regulation require taxi drivers to carry luggage into and out of the vehicle.

It also requires taxi center name and phone number to be printed on each taxi and to have ‘taxi-top’ signs that indicate whether it is vacant or not. A transport authority SMS hotline will also be introduced for complaints against services.

The Taxi Regulation can be found here (PDF in Dhivehi).

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