Abu Dhabi: Scores of taxi drivers staged a protest in the Mussaffah area of Abu Dhabi Wednesday morning.
The Al Ghazal Transport employees were protesting against a circular issued by the company, introducing new fines for drivers causing road accidents.
However the drivers went back to work as the company withdrew the circular following the intervention of TransAD, the taxi regulatory authority.
One driver, who requested not to be named, said the circular stated that any of them who were at fault in an accident would be fined up to Dh5,000, depending on the damage caused.
"Most of us receive a monthly salary of Dh3,000 to 3,500 [including commission], for working 12 to 15 hours or more [per day] so we can't afford a hefty fine like this," he said.
Another said the maximum fine charged for causing a road accident had previously been Dh800.
"We work such long hours and end up exhausted. We're prone to driving errors," he said. "Anyway, the insurance companies pay a huge part of the damages. Why should we have to pay more?"
Later the company cancelled the circular. "We're still very angry because of several other issues," one employee said.
The drivers also said they'd been mistreated by other staff members at the offices and garage of the company.
TransAD, the Centre for Regulaton of Transport by Hire Cars, later told Gulf News that it had asked Al Ghazal to withdraw the new policy on salary deduction related to road accidents.
With inputs from Samihah Zaman,Staff Reporter
