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| Ahmed Busherbak al-Mansouri (third from left) announcing details of the new taxi franchisees as (from left) Mohamed al-Naimi, Nasser al-Khanji and Ali Abdulla al-Behzad look on. PICTURE: Jayan Orma |
Taxi service in Qatar is expected to undergo a sea change early next year as the government’s sole transport solutions provider Mowasalat has awarded taxi franchise to three private companies.
Announcing this on Thursday, Mowasalat executive director Ahmed Busherbak al-Mansouri said the three companies were selected from a competitive bid in which several firms participated.
The three selected firms are Al Million Services Trading & Contracting Company, Petro Qatar and Al Ijara Holding.
The companies have been awarded a five-year contract for their operations, during which they need to deploy 500 cars each for taxi operations. Each of the cars run by the three companies should bear the same turquoise colour of Mowasalat taxis. However, each company would have three separate colours on the roof of their vehicles.
According to a schedule released at Thursday’s meeting, Al Million Services will be the first private firm to start operations any time between January and April next year with a minimum of 100 cars. As per the terms of the contract, the company needs to put 500 cars on roads in the five-year period from the day it starts operations. The roof colour of the company’s taxis would be maroon as per the contract with the Mowasalat, which would continue to be the regulator of the country’s taxi operations.
The second operator Al Ijara needs to start their operations during the period between July 1 and December next year. A company official told this newspaper that they would start operations on July 1. They also need to introduce 500 taxis in the five years starting from July 1. The roof colour of their taxis would be blue.
Petro Qatar would commence its taxi operations starting from January 1, 2013. Like the two other competitors they also need to provide 500 cars in the five years starting from the day they commence operations. Their cars would be painted yellow on the roof.
Speaking at the meeting, al-Mansouri and Mowasalat’s director of Strategy Development Nasser al-Khanji said the operations of the three companies would be closely monitored by the regulator and hence they are duty bound to provide quality services to the country’s customers. There would be periodic review of their services and the operators need to provide to customers the facilities stipulated by the regulator at tariffs fixed by Mowasalat, he said.
Al-Mansouri said the decision to permit private companies for taxi operations was taken after a detailed study made by the company, taking into account many factors, including the ability to operate effective and efficient taxi operations in the country. He also expressed the hope that competition would ultimately help the country’s customers and the companies need to deliver “unmatchable” services to remain in the field.
Asked if the permission given to the private companies could be considered a direction towards eventual privatisation of the country’s taxi sector, al-Khanji said the regulators’ sole purpose behind the latest decision is to ensure the availability of quality taxi services in Qatar.
“The companies chosen for operations could only operate in the terms and conditions decided by the regulator,” he said adding that they need to follow its guidelines.
Al-Khanji also said all future decisions on the country’s taxi operations would depend on customers’ requirements from time to time and hence policy changes would be based on the actual requirements of the country’s residents.
Answering queries, the representatives of the new franchisees said they are committed to provide high quality service to the customers and hence would not compromise on the quality of services.
MD of Al Million Services Abdul Khader Moideen said the company’s state-of-art call centre, fit with all advanced communication equipment is almost ready in Al Sadd and the company has an adequate fleet of brand new vehicles to start operations. The company, he said, has an excellent 24-hour maintenance facility in the Industrial Area.
Another company official expressed the confidence that they would be able to operate an efficient taxi fleet in the country and the call centre is equipped to make available taxis to calling customers in a record time of 10-15 minutes. “We have been carrying out many mock tests these days to ensure better quality services to our potential customers and utmost care is taken to ensure timely availability of taxi services to waiting customers”, he said.
Representatives of the other two companies also echoed similar views in their inter-action with journalists.
Besides al-Mansouri and al-Khanji, Mowasalat limousine director Ali Abdulla Behzad, Al Million MD Khader Moideen, general manager Manzoor Ali, Al Ijara Holdings director (Administration) Hamad Shareef al-Emadi, and director Ahmed Mohamed Hedaya, Petro Qatar CEO Salem Khalaf al-Mannai and Deputy chairman/MD Mohamed Abdullah al-Mannai were also present.
Answering a query from journalists, al-Khanji said only Mowasalat’s Karwa taxis would be allowed inside the airport. The new franchisees have been instructed not to operate their vehicles from the airport, he said.
Other than the airport, the new operators are free to operate their services anywhere in the country, as per the terms of the contract, said al-Khanji.
Mowasalat may go public in 2013
Mowasalat may go public and its shares would be listed in the Qatar Exchange in 2013, a senior company official said recently.
“However, the listing would depend on the rules prevailing in the country at that juncture”, he added.
The company official also said that along with the government approval, such factors as the market requirements and state policy to public investments prevailing during the period would also be considered before the eventual listing takes place.
