Taxi shortage, high taxi fares and poor service call for the launch of another transportation company to establish competition and improve services, according to some residents, a local Arabic daily reported. Hassan, a resident, has complained of lack of Karwa taxis, high fares and reckless drivers. “There should be more Karwa taxis to meet the demand of customers. Also, some drivers lack experience and drive fast so they are prone to accidents,” he said, adding that the fare is high and it costs him QR30 to QR40 to travel short distances. Restaurateur Saad Al Mubarak said there is definitely taxi shortage in the country especially in the suburbs. “When I was in Shahaniyya, I waited for an hour under the sun before one taxi came. Karwa taxis are concentrated in one place. I don’t know why,” he said. He added the old transportation system was better because the driver was the owner of the car so he did his best to improve his service because he wanted to earn more money for himself. Another resident Nasser Ali was of the same view saying Karwa drivers don’t care much about taxi and service because they don’t own the cars they are driving. “They act irresponsibly driving fast because they don’t own the car,” he said, adding there should be more cars in areas such as Al Rayyan and Al Wakrah. Turki Al Wosny, a lawyer, said there is no room for monopoly in a free economy so there should be no monopoly of taxi service here to promote competition and improve their services. “I think it is not legal to have only one taxi operator in the country. The Ministry of Labour should therefore conduct a legal study on this matter to protect the consumers, promote competition for a free economy,” said Fouad Bakar, another resident.

Follow us on our social media channels: @ILQlive @ILQlive @ILoveQtr ILoveQatar