Rabat Taxi Services Set for Privatization Following Government-Union Agreement

The operation of taxis by private companies is the subject of an agreement recently signed between the Secretary General of the Ministry of the Interior and the heads of the five most representative sectoral unions in the profession, reports Al Ahdath Al Maghribia. According to the terms of this agreement, only drivers holding a professional card and a trust permit are now concerned by the taxi operation contracts. As for the current contracts that do not meet this condition, they will not be renewed upon expiration.

The relationship between permit holders and professional drivers will now be framed by a standard contract. Permit holders will now be required to declare the main and auxiliary drivers they have hired to the competent authorities. A natural person can only operate one taxi permit. In other words, people who operate multiple taxis can, and must, form a company. A one-year deadline will be granted after signing the agreement so that they can comply with it. The companies that will be created will be required to hire only professional drivers holding a trust permit.

Another implication: withdrawal of inactive trust permits from their holders. In this sense, the agreement provides for a revision of the procedures for granting these permits. The training program, as well as the quality of training for obtaining this document, will be reviewed, as will certain clauses of the contract that binds the operators to the professional drivers, the same source specifies.