JEDDAH: Around 10 percent investors are withdrawing from the taxi service business due to reasons such as increase in the prices of vehicles, licenses to the employees and delays in payments of bills by the users of the service.

Said Al-Bassami, chairman of the transport committee of the Jeddah chamber, was quoted as saying by an online newspaper that the ministry of labor’s new rules regarding employment and a drop in the prices of taxi services in the Kingdom compared to neighboring countries are among the main reasons.

Al-Bassame, who is deputy of the national transport committee, said that the taxi companies were making a loss of 15 percent due to delays in payment or non-payment of bills by the users.

Wesam Al-Ali, an investor, said that according to a study, the volume of taxi market has increased to SR 4.1 billion. There are 150,000 cars being used as taxis.

He said that the study revealed that taxis are used more in the Eastern and Western regions than other regions, particularly during vacations. “However, the life of taxis is not more than two years. And then they are resold to those who show interest in them, but the vehicles fetch a poor price.”

Meanwhile, some investors see a 100 percent increase in the demand of family and big taxi service during Eid Al-Adha. This, they say, is because various companies of Haj services would be using family vehicles for their work during the pilgrimage.

Many people living in Jeddah and Makkah use these taxis for transportation to and from Madinah.