- The newly passed National Transport Act amendment bill will transfer some powers to Sindisiwe Chikunga, South Africa’s Transport Minister, to set ride-hailing prices, rather than leaving it up to the companies, including Bolt and Uber.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the amended act into law after 13 years of waiting for it to be adjusted to accommodate e-hailing services.
- Melithemba Mnguni, Secretary of the E-Hailing Partners Council, stated in an interview with an online radio station that ride-hailing operators are excited about the long overdue amendments.
Mnguni explained that operators in South Africa have had issues with pricing that often left them feeling underpaid and operators overflooding the market, shorting earnings.
Consequently, the council made submissions to address the issues of pricing, safety, and communication between operators and the platforms.
However, Bolt Operator and Chairperson of the Ekurhuleni E-hailing Association, Kenny Moretsele, thinks it’s the same problem whether it’s the e-hailing platforms setting the price or the government taking over, especially since the price regulation aspects of the bill are unclear.
“As far as regulation is concerned, as the Ekurhuleni e-hailing association, we believe we’re still going to suffer the same trend of price dumping in the industry,” Moretsele submitted.
Mnguni disagrees as he argues, “This is something that is good for us because, all along, the setup has been inappropriate whereby the e-hailing platforms are the ones that come up with pricing, yet they don’t carry any responsibility as far as operational costs are concerned.”
Now, with the transport minister overseeing the pricing system, operators expect the process to be more inclusive. Mnguni also disclosed that ride-hailing platforms in South Africa initially resisted the amendment and attempted to have it scrapped.
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The Department of Transport welcomed its signing into law and noted that the next steps are for the Amendment Bill to be submitted to the Office of the State Law Advisor for certification and submitted to the Minister for approval, now that the President has signed the regulation.
Per the amended regulations, ride-hailing services will no longer be mandated to apply for and use charter permits and meter taxi operating licences.
Parts of the amendments also extend the transport minister’s powers to implement new regulations and safety measures while streamlining the operating licences process.
Source
techpoint.africa
