Why taxi drivers keep changing the fares

At about 7:45pm, Sarah Nansubuga is among dozens of passengers at Nfuufu stage in Old Taxi Park in Kampala waiting to board a taxi. As soon as it shows up, people are shoving each other, in a bid to enter. Others however stand still, waiting for this peak time to pass so that they can travel when the fares reduce. For the last three years she has been staying in Nfuufu, Nansubuga says taxis charge Shs2,000 during peak hours and Shs1,700 off peak. And when it rains, the fares can shoot up to Shs3,000.

“Sometimes, you have no option but to just board,” she narrates.
Those who use the taxi as their only means of transport are left at the mercy of taxi operators who arbitrary fluctuate the fares as and when they wish. Nansubuga is one of the thousands who use public transport means on a daily basis amid the lack of a regulation, a situation that has led to exploitation of passengers in Kampala where 25,000 taxis are in active operation, according to John Ndyomugyeni, the national chairman Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (Utoda) (the association registers the taxis that come into operation every year).

The situation has been worsened by the boda boda industry despite attempts to ensure public transport in the city is cheap and affordable. The boda bodas are hardly regulated. Cyclists say that it is between them and their clients to determine the fare since with them, it is easier to negotiate.

This situation is why the entry of other players like Pioneer Easy Bus in 2012 had been welcomed with hope. When they had just started operations, the Pioneer Easy buses used to charge Shs800 over a 10km radius from the city centre.

As a result, many taxi operators reduced their fares to the joy of many passengers. A 20km Kampala-Mukono journey, which cost Shs2,500 by commuter taxis, would go for Shs1,000. But it all came to an end when Pioneer Easy Bus ceased operations for failing to clear taxes.

The problem of pricing has been a long on-going one, and so to ensure efficient transport in the city, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), replaced the Uganda Taxi Operators and Drivers Association (Utoda), which had been in charge of taxi management for more than two decades with Taxi Park Stages Committee (Tapscom). Tapscom comprises 10 members that were selected by taxi driver representatives from 80 taxi stages and operate on behalf of KCCA.

However, some drivers feel Tapscom does not serve their interests and therefore opt to run their own operations, including determining their own fares.

“We are the ones who decide the prices. We elected our leaders in Utoda but Tapscom does not represent us. They [representatives] elected themselves to suit their own interests. They only pay KCCA but they do their own things.

They are only interested in collecting taxes. We want to elect our own leaders so that we can have our own voice,” claims Steven Kawolo, who has been a driver for 24 years. Peter Kaujju, the KCCA spokesperson, however, says the drivers elected their own representatives since the city authority does not have the mandate to choose.

According to Abbey Luwaga, the Tapscom general secretary, the committee’s terms of reference of governing taxis are clear: to ensure no individual vehicle or stages unfairly increases taxi fares to the disadvantage of passengers.

Luwaga also says the body has stage committees which are responsible for ensuring the fares are regulated. So why then do some taxi operators continue to raise the prices? Why is it that no one seems able to crack the whip, to ensure that fares are regulated?

Luwaga believes that sometimes due to the prevailing market forces of demand and supply, taxi drivers increase the fees. He adds that some of their officials own the taxis and therefore take advantage of the situation to hike fares.

That is why passengers, like Patrick Zziwa who stays in Bukasa, find themselves paying different amounts of money all the time. Zziwa says the taxis he uses charge Shs2,500 at rush hour instead of the normal Shs2,000. “And it goes to Shs3,000 and Shs5,000 when it rains.

There is no price regulation here,” he says. Zziwa also accuses drivers of using the fuel price increments as an excuse, saying that even when the fuel prices stablise, the drivers do not reduce the fares. To make matters worse, he says, when sometimes, coasters, come to transport stranded passengers, at a fee of Shs1,500, the taxi drivers chase them away.

In the taxi drivers’ defence, Godfrey Magala, a driver who has been plying the Bweyogerere route for 10 years, says they increase the charges to make profits because they are harassed by KCCA officials who impose hefty penalties.

Other reasons the drivers increase the charges include the hiking of prices of goods and commodities during festive seasons. So they increase the fares to be able to make purchases themselves. Sometimes they increase the fare on a bad day, when there are few customers and they want to cover up the fuel costs.

Godfrey Kalule, a treasurer of Namuwongo-Kisugu stage under Tapscom says he will hike the price if he is going to Namuwongo to get passengers, knowing full well he will not get as many to fill the taxi. So he will charge the passengers to make up for the money he would lose by transporting few people to town because he needs to cover the fuel price.

Kalule believes the passengers ought to do their part too, saying if a passenger gets a problem, it is upon them to report the complaint. But one wonders to who, and if they will actually get a hearing and a resolution to their problem. Luwaga says there should be vigilance by Tapscom officials and those who charge higher fares should be apprehended. Benon Ainebyoona, the head of Bweyogerere Stage, on the other hand urges all the different taxi bodies to join their umbrella body, the Uganda Transport Development Agency (Utrada) to address their concerns.

For the buses, Umar Ddungu, one of the directors of Swift Safaris says owners should decide on uniform fares for the benefit of passengers and the industry. But that can only happen if the competition is regulated. “There should also be loading numbers given to buses, so that each bus is filled at a specific time, like taxis,” he says. But Ahmed Makumbi Nsange, one of the managers of Global Coaches refutes this, saying it is hard to load using numbers because some people may not want to use particular companies.

“Besides, Global [Coaches Company] has many buses, so it does not work. We can have three buses full while the other one is still there. There are also passengers going to different routes,” he says.

Winstone Katushabe the secretary Transport Licensing Board (TLB), notes that TLB cannot regulate the fares because it is a liberalised economy determined by forces of demand and supply. “What happens is that most operators decide what should be the rate so that they can compete fairly. Other factors like peak times matter, where there are more passengers but few vehicles,” he says.

“If they (fares) are to be regulated, it will depend on a number of factors. For example in Kampala, there is competition for the road and market. Competition for the market means that you will get a concession on a particular route and show that you have the capacity to operate on a particular route without interruption,” he says.

Should TLB work with the bus owners to come to an agreement? Francis Mawanda, the manager of Namayiba Bus Terminal believes so and says the Federation of Bus owners Association should liaise with TLB to formalise the fares.

According to Katushabe, the board is trying to restructure the sector through economic regulation, historical distortions notwithstanding. For instance, awarding specific tenders on routes. “Instead of having six operators, we have two or three to compete but with adequate capacity with efficiency then that gives the operator leverage,” he says.

He adds that the body does not give subsidies but they can be introduced if there is competition for the market.
If the bus is run by the government, Katushabe says, one of the indicators would be to ensure buses operate only with a route chart, and on agreed uniform fares. But as long as it is in the hands of the private sector, people will only be concerned about making money.

UP-COUNTRY TRAVELLERS
For up-country travellers using buses, operators believe regulating fares is largely determined by the market, owing to a liberal economy.

Most bus company officials note that there is no clear policy on regulation although there is a Transport Licensing Board (TLB) that should monitor the fares.

“We have a licensing transport board where we apply and we tell them about the prices,” Albert Kaparaga, the head of operations of Link Bus at Qualicel Bus Terminal Limited, says.
However, he says sometimes the prices go up because “we incur costs like fuel, repair and have few passengers which are detrimental to the fares”.

Umar Ddungu, one of the directors of Swift Safaris, says they increase fares during a season when there are so many passengers, or when prices of fuel go up. According to him, the competition in the industry has made it difficult for companies to cooperate and agree on a uniform fare.

“Sitting on a table to discuss uniform fares is difficult. You cannot make the prices standard,” Ddungu says. He notes that there is free entry and exit in the business.

Every company has different expenses and costs of maintenance which is why sometimes the fares are not stable. Dungu also argues that brokers take advantage of the situation and negotiate different prices for different people. “Some people are new.
They will pay what they are told, so you have no choice. The brokers are also thriving because of lack of regulation,” he says.

Gaps in the system
Francis Mawanda, the manager of Namayiba Bus Terminal, says the bus fares are supposed to be regulated by TLB but there are still gaps. According to a route chart (a guideline showing specific bus routes and fares), the fare for each passenger to be charged over the route for which a licence is granted is not stipulated.
The TLB secretary Winstone Katushabe, however, says the government cannot play a direct role. He says when the government introduced liberalisation, its role changed. What it does now is to ensure it creates a conducive environment for the private sector to operate.

“When government withdrew from public transport, there was a vacuum. There was no strategy or policy on how the public sector would operate,” Katusabe says.

“As a result, operators felt they should decide what should be charged due to the price of fuel pumps and inflation,” he adds.

LITTLE WORK DONE

In an effort to answer the ordinary man’s cries, Awakule Ennume buses introduced by Utoda were rolled out last year and passengers part with Shs1,000 when using them, compared to Shs2,000 they are charged when using taxis. William Kaddu, who controls the operations of Awakule Ennume bus, says this pricing is affordable. “Passengers come to town knowing that they have budgeted for Shs2,000 for transport.”

Kaddu says they do not hike the fares even when fuel prices increase. “The passengers are not complaining, except, they want more buses,” he says, adding that more are expected later this year. Even then, only a negligible fraction of the public benefits because there are just about 20 buses plying one route, the Kampala- Gayaza route.

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