Rabat Moroccan Adel Loudi has been practicing the profession of a car driver transporting passengers via smart applications since the beginning of his work. He worked in the cities of Rabat, Casablanca, Tangier, Marrakesh and others, and before that he worked as a taxi driver for 10 years.
Adel combined the two methods and knows the pros and cons of each. He believes that the existing conflict between traditional taxi drivers and app users in Morocco is not directly responsible for the drivers.
The streets of Rabat and Casablanca have recently witnessed conflicts and road chases, the heroes of which were drivers of traditional taxis and application cars, some of whom ended up in prison.
At the end of last month, the Public Prosecution decided to pursue 5 people under arrest, including 4 small taxi drivers and a light car driver, after the four drivers chased the light car driver because he was transporting passengers via electronic transportation applications, which led to him colliding with them on the main street in Rabat.
Before that, a taxi driver was imprisoned in Casablanca after an assault incident against a smart application driver who was transporting a Russian official with his wife.
Adel told Al Jazeera Net that the differences and conflicts between the two parties began since the emergence of transportation using smart applications in Morocco in 2015, and it is a conflict that appears and disappears because there are lobbies that feed on it, according to his expression.
The spokesman believes that most taxi drivers live under daily pressure due to the permit system, so they do not need to engage in conflicts that will threaten their livelihood.
The permit system means licenses to operate taxis in Morocco, which are distributed in the form of a donation. Three categories benefit from the permit: the owner and the exploiter under a contract with the owner, then the driver who works daily to provide a financial return, most of which goes to the owner and the exploiter and to cover the costs of gasoline, so he is left with only a little.
Adel believes that those involved in street chases are a small group of paid drivers with exploitation contracts who see applications as competing with them in terms of income.
To be or not to be
Smart applications in the transportation sector began in 2015 with Uber, which stormed the Moroccan market before withdrawing under pressure from taxi professional unions. Then new application companies appeared, such as Careem and InDrive, which are companies that say they work in… Morocco in line with local laws and regulations.
Adel says, “Many young people have taken out loans to buy cars in order to work as drivers with smart application companies with the aim of providing good service to the citizen and at the same time saving themselves from the specter of unemployment.”
The citizens whose opinions Al Jazeera Net obtained about transportation through applications agree that it has solved part of the problem of transportation within their cities. Public transportation such as buses, taxis, and trams have not been able to fill the major shortage in the sector, as citizens find themselves in queues to reach their workplaces, studies, or To meet their personal needs.
However, Muhammad Al-Harrak, General Secretary of the National Union of Taxi Drivers, has another opinion. He confirms to Al Jazeera Net that when the Ministry of Interior grants transportation licenses, it takes into account the needs based on previous studies, as the number of licenses granted is proportional to the population of each region.
Al-Harrak believes that transporting passengers via smart applications is secret and illegal, noting that the Minister of the Interior himself announced in Parliament that it is not recognized.
Interior Minister Abdel Wahed Laftit had confirmed in an answer to a written parliamentary question last summer that the use of private vehicles to provide transportation services or provide brokerage services in the field of transportation through the use of smart applications without a license are illegal and impermissible practices and expose their practitioners to the penalties stipulated by law.
As for Al-Harraq, the taxi driver practices his work within the framework of the law, as he has a trust license and a professional driver’s card and is subjected daily to security inspections and checks. If he violates the law and disrespects the customer, a disciplinary committee holds him accountable. On the other hand, transportation via smart applications is practiced by people without a license or Insurance or protection for the customer from potential risks that he may be exposed to during the trip.
He added, “If the authorities decide to allow passengers to be transported via applications, there is no way for us but to leave working in taxis and go to work in secret transportation via applications because its costs are lower and its profits are more,” adding, “It is time for us to decide whether to be or not to be.”
Regarding his opinion on citizens’ satisfaction with the services of transportation vehicles through applications, as they have contributed to solving the problems of the shortage of public transportation, Al-Harrak said that the Ministry of Interior must study the transportation situation in each city, and if it becomes clear that there is a shortage in transportation means, all it has to do is increase the licenses granted. For taxis.
Law and job opportunities
Last September, the Minister of Transport and Logistics announced in an answer to a parliamentary question that his ministry is open to respond to companies wishing to invest in the sector and provide transportation services by adopting smart applications, within a framework that takes into account respect for the legal and regulatory procedures in force in this field and guarantees the security and safety of those associated with it. Taking into account fair competition between professionals and workers in public transport of people.
The Democratic Transport Union drafted a draft “Law to Regulate Paid Transport Through the Use of Smartphone Applications” with the Ministry of Transport, a copy of which is available to Al Jazeera Net, but did not receive any response or interaction.
After the government was reshuffled and a new Minister of Transport was appointed, the union wrote to the ministry again and asked to discuss the draft law it had proposed. Then it met with the parliamentary group of the Justice and Development Party team in Parliament regarding it, and wrote to the heads of the rest of the parliamentary teams in order to demand the legalization of this sector and the development of a proposed law regulating it.
For Samir Farabi, Secretary-General of the Democratic Union of Transport, he considered that this method facilitated the lives of citizens, broke the isolation of a number of areas, and provided a safe trip for the citizen, as the applications allow him to know the name of the driver, the type of car, its color, and its license plate number, and also provide him with the payment service via bank card.
In his conversation with Al Jazeera Net, Farabi points out that the Kingdom is on the verge of global events such as the African Cup, the Women’s World Cup, and the 30th World Cup, so he believes it is necessary to legalize these means to provide a quality and modern transportation service for those arriving in the Kingdom from all countries of the world.
On the other hand, he points out that transportation companies through applications have contributed to alleviating unemployment, which reached 21%, explaining that between 26 and 30 thousand people work for them.
Therefore, he stresses the necessity of legalizing this type of transportation as soon as possible because it will create thousands of job opportunities for companies currently in Morocco or those awaiting legalization to invest in Morocco.
However, Muhammad Al-Harrak is categorically opposed to legalizing transportation through applications, and believes that this step will lead to the extinction of taxis, which he considers a threat to the daily livelihood of thousands of drivers and a spread of chaos.
For his part, Bouazza El Kharati, President of the National University for Consumer Protection, believes that the customer wants a quality transportation service at an appropriate price, which is a goal that taxis do not achieve, so applications are resorted to.
In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Al-Kharati supported the development of a law regulating the transportation of passengers through applications because it would create fair competition and provide quality service to the consumer, expecting that it would ultimately lead to the end of the permit system, which is an outcome that is in the interest of taxi drivers and also application drivers.
