DUBAI Taxi dispatch centres should be made responsible for providing small change to all drivers on a daily basis, Dr Yousuf Al Ali, CEO of Public Transport, Dubai Road Transport Authority, has told XPRESS.
His statement comes two weeks after XPRESS published a story on how the new minimum taxi fare of Dh12, up from the earlier round figure of Dh10, has caused a small change crunch on Dubai roads, as passengers and taxi drivers desperately rummage through their pockets for loose coins.
Dr Ali said: “The taxi dispatch centre should be made responsible for providing small coin change of Dh50 in a small plastic pouch to each driver on a daily basis during the sign-on under acknowledgement. The same amount should be returned every day along with the revenue collected during the sign-off in the form of change or bills.”
Other steps
He said this practice was successfully adhered to by public service buses before the cashless system was introduced.
Outlining other steps to resolve the crisis, he said: “Drivers must keep sufficient change at all times by obtaining it from the nearby supermarkets whenever they are running their cabs empty. If there is no change when the passenger decides to alight at a supermarket, the driver must obtain it from the shop and pay the customer.”
He said keeping small change should be made a mandatory requirement for the driver, failure of which should culminate in “severe disciplinary action”.
“In the near future, taxis can also be equipped with electronic devices to have cashless travel through NOL and credit cards.”
Ali had some advice for passengers too: “Passengers must insist on change and report instances where drivers refuse to return change. They should demand a receipt from the D8 meter and report the incident of non-return of change to the toll-free for corrective action.”
