By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter
Qatar currently has close to 4,000 taxis and the figure is expected to reach 7,000 by the middle of 2022, Mowasalat's Taxi and Limousines director Ali Abdulla Bahzad said.
"The authorities are committed to meet the growing requirements of the taxi customers and another franchisee may also be issued license to operate taxis shortly," he explained on the sidelines of the launch of the new Airport services of one of the four Karwa taxi franchisees.
The processing of the new franchisee documents are currently on and a decision would soon be reached on the commencement of their services, the official said.
Two of the current taxi service operators had entered the market in less than nine months, he pointed out, while observing that since the opening of the Hamad International Airport (HIA) there has been a growing demand for taxis and more than 300 dedicated Airport taxis are operated by Karwa.
"These are besides the 20 new units of Cars Taxi, which have started operations," he said. One of the Karwa franchisees has been instructed not to operate taxi services from HIA as their services do not meet the stipulated standards set by Mowasalat, the official revealed.
The Mowasalat official also said more Airport taxis would be operated in coming days if there is a corresponding rise in the demand for vehicles at HIA.
