RIYADH, 4 June 2003 — The Ministry of Transport will no longer issue operating licenses to new taxi and limousine companies in the Kingdom seeking foreign manpower. The move is intended to cut reliance on foreign drivers and employed in the sector and to replace them with Saudi staff as part of the Saudization policy, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Ohli, deputy minister of transport, said here yesterday.
“New licenses will be issued to only those taxi companies which pledge to give all their jobs to Saudi nationals and will not recruit foreign manpower”, said Al-Ohli. He said the new regulation did not apply to the existing taxi operators, which have been told by the ministry to implement a gradual Saudization policy over the next two years.
According to a royal order, limousine companies have been told to Saudize their jobs in four phases beginning with 30 percent in the first phase, which ended recently; 50 percent by the end of the current year; 75 percent by the middle of next year and 100 percent by the end of next year. There are currently more than 7,000 taxi drivers working with about 600 limousine companies in the Kingdom. Fahd Al-Atawi, a limousine company owner, told Arab News that many taxi companies called for an extension of the grace period to Saudize all jobs. They had warned that they would incur heavy losses if the decision was enforced fully, he added.
Al-Atawi said that more than 170 taxi and limousine companies in the Kingdom faced closure because of the tighter restrictions imposed on these companies, especially when it came to hiring Saudi drivers. “Many limousine operators say that they have not been able to convince Saudis to work as drivers, and the labor offices have also failed to supply an adequate number of Saudi drivers for our ever-expanding fleet,” said Faisal Al-Ajwad, who owns a local limousine company.
Another company owner, who refused to be identified, said that many taxi companies in Riyadh and Jeddah have already stopped operations after the labor offices refused to provide Saudi drivers to cover their shortage of staff, which resulted from the layoff of foreign drivers. About 100 taxi companies were also expected to cease operation in the coming months, the fleet owner said, and asked for a grace period. Taxi companies in Jeddah and Riyadh have estimated that their losses will exceed SR250 million if they fail to find Saudi drivers.
