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Kathmandu Wednesday October 24, 2001 Kartik 08, 2058.
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Taxi cartel at TIA hurting consumer rights
By Manoj M. Rijal
KATHMANDU, Oct 23 – One of the main themes of a
liberalized economy is to limit the role of the government so that the private sector can
groom. It rests on the belief that perfect lubrication amongst private capital creates a
healthy competition and thus helps to deliver better services to the consumers.
However, even after one and half decade long experience of
adopting market guided liberalized economic policy, some of the sectors in Nepal still
continues to enjoy forceful monopoly thus violating the basic norms of consumer rights.
And so is the case when it comes to riding the green plated
cabs inside the nation’s only international airport - the Tribhuvan International
Airport (TIA).
The airport taxis inside the TIA charge an unreasonably
higher fare to both domestic and international passengers. And this is because they have
prevented the metered taxis to operate openly in the airport premises.
Going to Gaushala from the airport, hardly a kilometer away
from the airport, one has to pay almost rupees two hundred. Even taking the airport cab
till the main gates of the airport would cost Rs 100.
If that is not enough, drivers charge extra for luggage
that passengers carry. And all this is in contrast to what travelling in metered taxis
cost. For the same airport to Gaushala route, the fare in the metered taxis hardly touches
Rs 30.
"I was in a hurry to reach my home when I returned
from Qatar for the first time and hence got into a green plated cab. But, I was surprised
when the driver asked me to pay almost five times the amount that meters usually
read," said Bharat Basnet, a resident of Koteshwor.
The airport cabs have formed strong unions having their own
set of rules and regulations. They fix the rates themselves and operate on a queue system.
The fare varies from Rs 200 to 1,000 according to the distances. A cab to Thamel can be
hired at Rs 250, whereas, it is Rs 300 to Kalanki, Rs 350 to Nakkhu and Rs 500 for
Kirtipur and Bhaktapur, among other.
These unions have prevented metered taxis from picking up
outcoming passengers. "The airport cabs do not let us wait for passengers even for a
second inside the airport after entering there with our passengers," complains Purna
Khadgi, a metered taxi driver.
So much so that metered taxi drivers at times are even
manhandled by the airport cab drivers and the police. "Insiders and the traffic
police have manhandled me when I waited for passengers inside the airport," says Hari
Gautam, another driver.
The airport cab drivers are informally known as insiders,
and the rest outsiders.
So strong is the cartel of taxi drivers inside the airport
that even Nepal Meter Taxi Federation, the apex body of meter taxi drivers and owners,
could do nothing to promote open competition.
The federation some four months ago had demanded the
insiders to provide taxi station in the airport premises, but was initially rejected.
Later on, the insiders did accept to provide space, but that was far off from the
passengers’ view and was economically unsuitable.
Says Digambar Shahi, President of the federation,
"Metered taxi drivers are fed up of what the airport taxi drivers are doing. To
ensure that passengers are charged fairly, it is necessary to allow metered taxis to
operate inside the airport premises."
Even members of the Transportation Management Committee,
which also includes the Chief District Officer accept that it has not been able to control
such unfair practices. "The committee has no role in raising or slashing fares. The
unions do everything themselves," informed an official under conditions of anonymity. |
