The Ministry of Transport is in the process of introducing a law to make it mandatory for limousine drivers across the Kingdom to operate electronic taximeters to allow greater regulation of fares, according to an informed source. He said the new law will also bring an end to increasing complaints from passengers about fares. However, taxi company workers and drivers said that passengers themselves don't hire cabs on taximeter. “We always ask our drivers to use the taximeter, but passengers prefer to pay a lumpsum fare,” Atta Mohammad Alam, an official working at a taxi company in Jeddah, told the Saudi Gazette. Badr Al-Matri, a Saudi taxi driver, told the Saudi Gazette that customers ask him not to operate the taximeter because it starts with SR5. The problem, however, is particularly acute at the airports where passengers complain about not being able to get taxis. A common difficulty is that taxi drivers refuse to move their cars from areas demarcated for airport rental cars. Unlike other countries, the taximeter in Saudi Arabia is not in use despite ministry regulations. So there are no fixed fares for destinations. Passengers even bargain to get lower fares during off-peak hours, while during peak hours taxi drivers demand exorbitantly high fares. Muhammad Al-Baqami, a Saudi limousine driver, admitted there has been chaos over prices, but said the ministry does not make it obligatory for them to use taximeters. __
