Official Taxis of Astana are in crisis
Astana taxi market needs to be regulated by the state
In Astana was held the 17th session of the Council on protection of the rights of entrepreneurs under the chairmanship of Iraq Elekeev. During it was considered an appeal of the Association of transport of Astana on assistance in detection and suppression of illegal activities of dispatching services, providing services without registration, and overall survival of the official taxi market of the capital.
Speaking at the meeting, the head of department of the Chamber of entrepreneurs of Astana Dauren Satkanbaev noted that today the official taxi service is in critical condition, many of them forced to cease their activities or to go into the shadows. A number of problems hinder the operation of official carriers: the lack of infrastructure associated with a small number of parking places for taxis, imperfection of legislation in the transport sector, illegal dispatch services, and Internet services that act as information and dispatching services.
"The status of an official carrier does not give any preferences, but only attracts the attention of various regulatory authorities. 17 taxi companies ceased operations from 2013 to 2016. Volume of private investment amounted to about 2 billion tenge. Many companies received subsidies from the state. All these efforts were in vain. This suggests that the taxi market demands changes and intervention", - said chairman of the Association of transport of Astana Medet Kurmanov.
According to transport carriers, it is necessary to introduce state regulation in the industry: to regulate the operation of Internet services, mobile applications, aggregators and platforms in matters of registration in the transport bodies of the capital and transfer of orders to official carriers, to provide penalties for violations and illegal taxing.
"Existing standards are primarily focused on the activities of the official taxi services. Detection, suppression and prosecution for illegally taxing is very difficult, and experience shows that these measures are ineffective", - said the chairman of the Association of transport of the capital.
Also, according to Kurmanov, you must organize a system of urban taxi parkings in major passenger points, to introduce yellow or another color of the registration number following the example of neighboring Russia, where such a practice exists since 2002. The measure will allow to keep records of the number of taxis, it will entitle to go to paid parking or to city taxi parking, it facilitate the control and supervision for the transport control bodies.
"The third sentence - Bus line - the right to use dedicated lanes for official taxi services, it is just. The ability to reduce the travel time will make taxi services attractive. If taxis will not be allowed to the bus line, a significant part of the taxi market will go into the shadows that will have a negative impact on the quality of passenger service and safety. The taxis can lose some passengers. And it will cause additional load on the street network", - he said.
Head of LLP "Astana LRT” Beibut Eszhanov noted that in addition to the above concerns, the official taxis do not have enough taxis, that is why they can’t compete with illegal carriers.
Iraq Elekeev Chairman of the Board, in turn, said that unofficial taxi driver make money not because of good life. Maybe, legal entities should think about attraction of unofficial taxis to become their official partners. Such an approach would first increase the taxi park, and the secondly - to get out of the shadows and to earn money legally.
In general, after a meeting all voiced proposals by the Association will be sent to the city administration of the capital and other relevant state authorities for consideration.
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