Col. Ali Al-Dubaikhi, director of traffic police in Riyadh, said on the show that his department has no role in organizing taxi services in the Kingdom with the exception of checking for possible traffic violations.

He said many of the violations committed by these drivers fall under the jurisdictions of other departments.

“Last year, we transferred 10,900 violations of taxi drivers to other departments. We found 3,345 drivers not working under their sponsors. There were 5,509 violations related to specifications and 813 cases related to the Labor Office,” Al-Dubaikhi said.

Ali Al-Salloum, deputy chairman of the Transport Committee at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said his group is working on a mechanism that would protect the rights of both taxi companies and the public. One issue brought up on the show was the chauffeurs' driving licenses. Some have called for lifting the requirement to have a chauffeur's license in order to make it easier for Saudis to be taxi drivers.

The number of people holding chauffeur's licenses in the Kingdom is estimated at 55,000 and most of them work for companies. There are 22,300 taxis in Riyadh alone and more than 60,000 throughout the Kingdom, mostly in the larger cities.

“Meetings are being conducted with officials of traffic, transport and highway police to reorganize taxi services in the Kingdom,” said Al-Salloum.

The talk show also raised the security problems caused by taxi drivers as they are believed to be involved in most crimes in the country, especially those related to robbery and vice.