Taxi Driver Arrested in Casablanca After Dispute Over Ride-Hailing Service

The events took place in front of a prestigious hotel in Casablanca last weekend, where a group of taxi drivers were waiting for potential customers. According to the taxi drivers who witnessed the incident, a car linked to a carpooling application came to pick up the Russian diplomat and his wife, which "provoked the anger" of the taxi drivers, as these applications are not legally recognized in Morocco. One of the taxi drivers, Jamal, would have approached the diplomat to explain to him that the carpooling applications operate illegally in Morocco and urged him to rather use the services of an approved taxi, we learn.

Still according to the witnesses, this altercation had led to a verbal dispute. The diplomat had then returned to the hotel. But several taxi drivers had followed him to explain their concerns in more detail. This conversation would have been peaceful, but it was obviously not to the diplomat’s liking. He would have filed a complaint with the police for misconduct, which led to Jamal’s arrest. However, the arrest of the taxi driver has aroused the indignation of his colleagues and union representatives.

There had been no physical altercation, affirmed the national secretary of the Moroccan Democratic Labor Union (UDTM), quoted by Morocco World News. According to him, the facts reported by the media do not really reflect reality, and could harm the country’s reputation. Consistent sources have indeed reported that the taxi driver would have chased the carpooling car transporting the Russian diplomat and his wife, causing the road to be blocked by several taxi drivers. The latter would then have assaulted the driver. According to the same sources, the diplomat and his wife were both injured while trying to end the fight.

Relying on the reports of the witnesses, the union leader reaffirmed that the arrested taxi driver was not involved in any physical altercation with the couple. He claims to have contacted the Attorney General of the King to request the release of Jamal. He believes that the focus should rather be on the unregulated status of carpooling applications, which was at the origin of the problem.