Taxi drivers find it difficult to make ends meet

It is customary for taxi companies to demand SR170 a day from their drivers as a part of the employer’s share of the taxi driver’s profits for the day. However, many drivers are unable to pay this sum and therefore risk being fired. Most taxi drivers are Indian, Pakistani or Yemeni nationals with Saudi drivers accounting for less than 30 percent in this sector, according to experts.
Statistics reveal that most taxi companies in the Kingdom have their own workshops for repairs and maintenance. There are up to 43,000 taxis in the Kingdom with more than 28,000 expatriates employed as drivers. There are around 1,357 Saudi taxi companies in the Kingdom with Riyadh accounting for the largest percentage of taxis at 40 percent followed by Jeddah with 33 percent, the Eastern Province with 17 percent and about 5 percent distributed in the rest of the country, according to a local newspaper.
Ali Bakr, a Pakistani taxi driver, said: “I was involved in a traffic accident and was forced to pay SR750 toward damages to the car even though my employer has his own workshop to repair the taxis. However, a taxi driver has to pay for the damages to the other party (regardless of whose fault it is) too.”
A lot of taxi companies also refuse to transfer the sponsorships of their expatriate drivers which is a clear violation of the Saudi labor law. Often, expatriate taxi drivers are forced to avoid Passport Department officials and the police for fear of being deported.
“My employer told me that he couldn’t transfer my sponsorship because of some problem with the labor office. It is risky to work illegally especially when I have to pass through check-points. I still don’t have a valid taxi driver’s license and am making do with my private license. As a result, I have been fined several times,” lamented Mohammad Saddeeq, a Sudanese national.
Taxi companies often neglect to ensure the safety of their expatriate drivers such as transferring their sponsorships or helping them to obtain a valid taxi driver’s license. These companies also contribute to taxi drivers’ woes by making them pay for traffic violations or accidents which may sometimes exceed SR300.
There are more expatriate drivers working with taxi companies because of a dearth of Saudi drivers who prefer to work individually saying that the companies do not offer attractive incentives.
“A study was conducted on how to develop taxi companies with the participation of more Saudi drivers. But the problem is that Saudis don’t want to work for these companies. They would rather have their own private limousine funded by loans from the Saudi Credit and Saving Bank,” Saeed Al-Bassami, vice president of the national transportation committee of the Council of Saudi Chambers, told Arab News.
“According to Nitaqat figures, the Saudization percentage in the transport sector is 12 percent because Saudis don’t want to work for the taxi companies. We cannot develop this sector without a high Saudization percentage. There are more than 10,000 jobs available in the sector but we only have 17 Saudis ready to work as drivers,” added Al-Bassami.
“We proposed establishing a company that would eventually incorporate 260 taxi companies within five years. However, the Transport Ministry said that in order to approve the project Saudization would have to be 100 percent,” Abdul Hadi Al-Qahtani, former president of the taxi committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in a previous interview with Arab News.