Qatar approves draft law to regulate taxis

Qatar’s state cabinet has reportedly approved a draft law to tighten up on taxi drivers who try and extort more than the metre cost from passengers.

The draft law aims to better regulate public taxi services in the country, to curb “cheating” by drivers and protect passengers’ rights, The Peninsula reported.

Under the proposed new rules, taxi drivers are allowed to collect only the amount recorded in the meter, whether there is one or a group of passengers in the car.

It suggests taxi companies were attempting to charge each passenger in the taxi.

Public taxis are not allowed to take more than one passenger in a trip if they are not part of the same group, under the law, even if their destinations are similar.

The rules apply to all taxis operated by state taxi company Mowasalat.

The newspaper said the law also stipulates that taxis should be painted turquoise on the main bodies and gray, blue, maroon or yellow on the roof depending on the circumstances.

Currently, ‘Karwa’ taxis directly run under a mobile app by Mowasalat are differentiated from those run by its franchisees with a change in the colour of the roof.

Meanwhile, members of the public are prohibited from painting their cars with the same colours, according to the new rules.