“Private cars should not be allowed to pirate as taxis because they do not pay any fees to Government” THE Bus Drivers and Taxis Association of Zambia (BDTAZ) has welcomed Lusaka City Council’s (LCC) decision to impound pirate taxis in Lusaka City.
Association Chairperson, Mr George Siwale, told Lusaka Star in an interview that private cars should not be allowed to pirate as taxis because they do not pay any fees to Government.
He said the move should be extended to other parts of the Country in order to ensure that cars that are not legally registered as taxis are not allowed to operate on the streets.
Mr. Siwale explained that it was unfair for pirate taxis to continue operating for free while legally registered taxis were paying tax to Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA), station levies to LCC and other levies to Road Transport and Safety Agency ( RTSA) in order for them to operate.
He also stated that pirate taxi drivers do not charge commuters in accordance with legal fare charts as required by the law.
Mr. Siwale therefore encouraged car owners who intend to do business in the transport industry to register their cars with the appropriate authorities in order to make their businesses legal.
He further urged members of the public to stop using pirate taxis as it was not safe.
Mr. Binwell Ngoma, a taxi driver told Lusaka Star that the move by LCC was welcome because pirate taxis were making money without paying tax to Government.
He said pirate taxis should not be allowed to operate anywhere in Zambia because they compromised the safety of commuters.
“Criminals can easily deceive members of the public using pirate taxis and we have seen many cases where commuters have been murdered by criminals operating as pirate taxi drivers,” said Mr. Ngoma.
Mr. Ngoma also commended LCC for making the move to impound pirate taxis as most of them were operating in places that were not taxi ranks.
LCC recently announced that it would impound all pirate taxis in Lusaka, a move which was also taken by Kitwe City Council and Kitwe traffic Police in Kitwe.