RURA makes changes in cab fares, cab drivers cry foul

By The Inspirer .

The Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) has announced new changes in cab fares, among which shorter distances will be charged higher than it has been.

According to a communiqué released from the institution this week, shorter distances between 2 and 30 km will be charged at 700 per kilometer, as opposed to the former price of 500 RWF.

The first one kilometer traveled by passengers remains charged at 1500 RWF. In the same way, the distance above 30 kilometers remains charged at 500 RWF per kilometer.

The regulatory body also has introduced a 15 minutes free waiting time for passengers, who might need to stop over during their journey. However, each extra 15 minutes of waiting time remain charged at 1500 RWF.

In an interview with The New Times, Benjamin Rutimirwa, the Director of Economic Regulation at RURA said that the changes take into consideration the cost of providing transport service including the modernization of the sector.

“Based on the modernization of the sector, we realised that we should have an increase in the prices of the shorter distances of 2 to 30 kilometers,” he said.

In an interview with the New Times, cab drivers and their clients, however, shared what they make of the move, mainly complaining about the rise of the tariffs.

Narcisse Rwabulindi, a cab driver said he is already experiencing a drop in clientele due to the rise in the fare,

“We are seeing the bad effects of the new prices because the money is much for our clients. You drive someone and when you show them the money they have to pay, they tell you that they will not hire you again,” he said.

Didier Manzi, a cab client decried the new prices as ones that “will hit clients hard,”

“I am more of a freelancer. I work most of the time at night. I rely on cabs for transportation especially at night hours for security reasons. As it was, the prices were still a burden to me. Now that they raise them, I am wondering how I am going to move at those night hours,” he said.

“Our purchasing power as Rwandans is still low that those prices are not fair at all. That tariff will affect us as clients and the small cab owners who rely on a bigger number of clients to make ends meet. I think these prices will hit us hard financially as consumers.”

Ephraim Uwiringiyimana, another cab driver admitted that the tariff rise would not be a big issue to the cab drivers, but it is to clients.

“On the field, we are not seeing clients. When they realize that they are charged much, they don’t come back,” he said.

From September last year, cab transport has been characterized with several disputes mainly arising from the introduction of Intelligent Connected Fare Metres (ICFM) which required drivers to pay a 10% charge to Yego Innovision, a local I.T company running the service.

Drivers have severally protested the 10% charge as “unfair,” with some of them threatening legal action against it in September last year.