Transport ministry issues fixed price list for airport taxi fares

The federation of urban taxis (Poat-Povek) on Friday said it disagreed with the transport ministry’s decision to impose fixed fares for taxis travelling to and from the airports, starting on March 1.

The group argued that setting fixed fares from airports to all cities was a mistake since passengers do not go to a fixed point in every city.

Poat calls on all owners and drivers of urban taxis to use the taximeter instead, which they said, is the legal procedure for determining fares. It also called on the transport ministry to enforce strict checks at airports and in all cities to make sure this is applied by drivers.

The federation also questioned the ministry’s statement that it had secured the approval of the professional taxi drivers’ groups before going ahead with this new measure. Poat said it had twice expressed its disagreement in writing.

Poat recalled that just last November, the road transport department had informed the public that according to the law, no other way of calculating the fare was allowed than through a certified taximeter based on a legally defined fare.

The transport ministry announced last week that it has set fixed fares for taxis travelling to and from the airports, starting on March 1. The decision, it said, aimed to solve a longstanding problem as regards the information given to visitors, tourists and others who use the service on taxi fare. The fares include urban and rural taxi services.

The ministry had said that this would also give credibility to taxi transport thus improving professionalism and increase passenger traffic.

The fares set by the transport ministry as as follows: