DOHA: Mowasalat yesterday signed a new agreement with Al Ijarah Holding, the second private taxi operator in Qatar, allowing the latter to add 150 vehicles to its fleet of 650 blue-roofed taxis.
While Al Ijarah has got a boost from the state-backed public transport company in recognition of its “good performance,” a third private company, Petro Qatar, that was also selected to operate taxis has been disqualified for its failure to meet the contractual commitments, a senior Mowasalat official said yesterday.
The two private companies, along with Al Million had won the bid from Mowasalat to operate taxis on a franchise basis. Al Million has been given permission to add 150 taxis to its fleet of 500.
The new Chief Executive Officer of Mowasalat, Khalid Al Hail, disclosed that the contract with Petro Qatar has been terminated and the company is not going to operate taxis. Petro Qatar has not yet launched any taxis, though the contract was awarded more than a year ago.
“The agreement is relevant no more because the company has failed to fulfil its terms and conditions,” Al Hail told a news conference, in reply to a query from The Peninsula.
He said Qatar has about 2,500 taxis and their number is expected to grow up to 5,500 over the next two years. This will include the fleet of the existing and forthcoming private taxi operators.
Mowasalat a few days ago invited a bid to select three additional companies to operate taxis.
“There are 1,200 Karwa taxis on the roads, along with 500 Al Million taxis and 650 Al Ijarah taxis. With addition of the 150 new taxis of Ijarah, the total will reach 2,500. We are planning to add 1,000 taxis each over the next two years,” said Al Hail.
Mowasalat also plans to add 500 Karwa taxis to its fleet, he added.
Nasser Al Khanji, Mowasalat’s Exeutive Director – Support Services, said Al Ijarah has been awarded the new contract based on an evaluation of its performance.
“Our Franchise Office has been closely monitoring operations of each taxi operator from their systems, call centre, dispatch, customer feedback and complaints, general perception, financial accomplishments, driver behaviour. Through this analysis, it has become evident so far that Al Ijarah Holding has been making valuable efforts to meet its contractual obligations and as a result, it is important to support such performance for the benefit of the public,” said Al Khanji.
Al Ijarah records show that its accident rate is far less than usual and it has made a good progress in recruitment and keeping the number and quality of drivers in general. In previous reports by the Franchise Office, Al Ijarah also has the least number of complaints from the public as well as its co-operators, it was disclosed at the press conference.
Hamad Al Emadi, CEO of Al Ijarah, and Ahmed Al Mansouri, Executive Director Operations at Mowasalat, and its Administrative Director Nasser Al Marzouqi were also present.
The Peninsula
