“New rules for Saudi taxi services: Heavy fines and deportation.”

 

The General Authority for Transport (GAT) has approved new regulations and rules for individual service-providers offering public taxi and airport taxi services. The chairman of GAT, Rumaih Al‑Rumaih, gave approval for the new mechanisms. The regulations include stringent controls to ensure service quality and passenger safety.

Violators of the regulations may be fined up to SAR 1,600. Repeat offences may cause the fines to increase up to five times. Also, vehicles may be impounded, drivers’ licenses suspended for up to five months, and foreign drivers may face deportation. A vehicle may be seized for between 20 and 60 days and the driver suspended up to five months under certain conditions.

The new regulations categorize violations into “serious” and “less serious”. Serious violations include: driving without a professional driving license, using a cancelled or expired licence, not providing the service despite being contracted, charging a fare other than the approved one, not wearing the required official uniform, not maintaining the vehicle properly, lack of driver hygiene, etc.

Less serious violations include: delaying card renewal, not providing required information to authorities, failing to display a “no smoking” sticker inside the vehicle, not keeping lost-and-found items, not assisting passengers with physical disabilities, etc.

The rules include a detailed list of violations and corresponding penalties: from verbal warnings, to vehicle impoundment, to licence suspension from one month to five months, and deportation of foreign violators. Fines range from SAR 50 up to SAR 1,600; repeat offences may raise them up to five-times the base amount.

In addition to financial penalties, non-financial sanctions include: stopping a vehicle from operating for a defined period, seizing a vehicle for 20-60 days, suspending or cancelling an operating card, suspending a driver one to five months based on the nature and frequency of the violation.

For non-serious violations, the driver is typically given a seven-day correction period before a fine is imposed. If the violation continues after the final decision, a daily fine (up to 10 % of the maximum fine) may be imposed. Additional strict actions include publishing the decision in newspapers, blocking violators’ electronic applications, shutting down offending establishments, impounding vehicles under court order, and deporting foreign violators.