Taxi operators clash over increment of transport fares

By WaswaTenywa

Taxi operators in Kampala under their respective groups have failed to agree on the issue of hiking transportation fees which some have endorsed while some are still resistant about the issue.

Taxi drivers under the Kampala Operator Taxi Stages Association (KOTSA)while meeting at Uganda Muslim supreme council conference hall at Old Kampala, agreed to increase the transport fees which they said was due to the oppression from the heavy taxes and the increasing fuel prices.

Speaking to the press at the same venue, KOTSA chairman Yasin Sematimba revealed that the amount they are required to pay per year is much yet they are also aggrieved by the increasing fuel prices and the much money they pay in terms of receipts which has left many taxi operators poor and unable to develop themselves.

‘’The annual fees of shs720,000 for those operating in Kampala and shs840,000 for those going upcountry are extremely high and now we are including the hiking fuel levies which have forced the drivers to nag the job and we have decided to increase the fees so that we can remain in the job’’,said sematimba

The meeting which included the officials from the Uganda Revenue Authority also discussed several issues including the way taxes will be paid by the taxi operators.

Meanwhile the Uganda transport development agency (UTRADA) under the leadership of Mustapha Mayambala did not agree to KOTSA’s decision saying they cannot increase the taxi rates before agreeing with the concerned authorities.

Mayambala said they are still engaging the transport minister to discuss the taxi fees issue to revise how far they can go with the issue.

‘’We cannot increase the transport fees before finalizing engagements with the stakeholders and things are not decided on the roads instead they should be done the correct way therefore we are not increasing any fee since we don’t know there intention,’’said mayambala